
Copyright l>i ( 



COFCRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



"The 
Fraternal Salesman's 
Tool -Kit" 



By E. J. DUNN 



AUTHOR OF 

Mortality Tables for Fraternal Societies 

Interesting Features of Old Line Operation 

Methods of Reinforcing Fraternal Societies 

Expense Loading for Fraternal Societies 

What Becomes of the Member's Money? 

Pioneer Builders of Fraternalism in America 

Builders of Fraternalism in America 

Elbow Grease Philosophy 

The Lost Trail 



E. J. DUNN, PUBLISHER 

CHICAGO 
1921 



^6*'*"* 
."&* 



Copyright, 1921 , By 

E. J. DUNN 

Chicago 



AM 23, i 

©CI.A822512 



I 

PREFACE 

X"¥" TE are told that commerce is the great 
VV/ civilizer. History apparently establishes 
" the truth of this statement. When the 
first hunk of raw meat was exchanged for a rude 
war club, commerce was born. In the same trans- 
action salesmanship had its birth. The salesman 
is the advance agent of commerce. He is, there- 
fore, the pioneer and the apostle of civilization. 

Salesmanship is both a science and an art. Suc- 
cessful salesmanship is the happy combination of 
the theoretical and the practical in effecting the 
useful exchange or sale of property or service, 
or both. The word property is here used in a 
restricted sense and is intended to apply to all 
material objects or things that are capable of being 
sold or exchanged. In like manner the word serv- 
ice is designed to apply to immaterial rights, rela- 
tions or values that are subject to sale or exchange. 
Life insurance, or protection, is a service. 

We are all salesman. All of us have something 
to sell or to exchange. Merchants, bankers, manu- 
facturers, real estate dealers, doctors, lawyers, 
priests, preachers, executives, clerks, wage- 
earners, agents — everybody has to sell something 
in order to live. Whether we sell property or 
service makes little difference. Every one of us 
has the same general end in view. 



Among all the salesmen in the world none has 
been less honored and none has more highly de- 
served to be honored than the fraternal insurance 
salesman. During the heat of the day, through 
the lonely watches of the night, in season and out 
of season, he has carried to a none too willing 
public the message of co-operative fraternity. By 
sheer force of personality men and women have 
put our fraternal beneficiary system on the map. 
They have been variously designated as deputies, 
representatives, field-workers, salesmen, etc. It 
was all one to them. In times of peace they have 
been our bold crusaders and in periods of stress 
and storm they have been our valiant defenders. 
To this great army of men and women, this 
volume — the first of its kind — is most respectfully 
dedicated. We modestly indulge the hope that it 
may help them to be even more effective in the 
future than they have been in the past. 

E. J. DUNN. 
August 24, 1921. 



CONTENTS. 



Parti. 


The Tool- Kit. Pages 11-42. 


Tool No. 


1. 


Favorable First Impression. 


Tool No. 


2. 


Personal Appearance. 


Tool No. 


3. 


Mental Fearlessness, Self-Conn 
dence and Ambition. 


Tool No. 


4. 


Will Power. 


Tool No. 


5. 


Concentration. 


Tool No. 


6. 


Sincerity. 


Tool No. 


7. 


A Good Memory. 


Tool No. 


8. 


Effective Speech. 


Tool No. 


9. 


Power of Suggestion. 


Tool No. 


10. 


Tact. 


Tool No. 


11. 


Display of Interest. 


Tool No. 


12. 


Habit of Industry. 


Tool No. 


13. 


Reliability. 



A Parting Word. 14. Watch Your Step. 



Part II. Plying the Tools of Sales-Craft. 
Pages 45-98. 



Job No. 


1. 


General Specifications. 




Job No. 


2. 


Make the Right Connection. 




Job No. 


3. 


Start Right. 




Job No. 


4. 


System Is Necessary. 




Job No. 


5. 


Salesmanship Engineering. 




Job No. 


6. 


Standardize Your Work. 




Job No. 


7. 


The Mystic Triangle. 




Job No. 


8. 


Avoid Moodiness. 




Job No. 


9. 


Keep a Record. 




Job No. 


10. 


The Theory of Averages. 




Job No. 


11. 


Time Is Money. 




Job No. 


12. 


Evening Work. 




Job No. 


13. 


A Parable in Salesmanship. 




Job No. 


14. 


Don't be a Lemon Picker. 




Job No. 


15. 


Sources of Prospects. 




Job No. 


16. 


The Interview. 




Job No. 


17. 


Personalize Your Proposition. 




Job No. 


18. 


Proper Time for Your "Big Push." 




Job No. 


19. 


Favorable Conditions for Inter- 
view. 




Job No. 


20. 


Number of Daily Interviews. 




Job No. 


21. 


Your "Lay-Out." 




Job No. 


22. 


Avoid Fatal Mistakes. 




Job No. 


23. 


"Cashing In" on a Hobby. 




Job No. 


24. 


Head-Work and Elbow Grease. 




Job No. 


25. 


Cultivate a Keen Scent. 




Job No. 


26. 


Forget Yourself. 




Job No. 


27. 


Be Square. 




Job No. 


28. 


Be Courteous. 




Job No. 


29. 


Be Sagacious. 




Job No. 


30. 


Sportsmanship in Salesmenship. 




Job No. 


31. 


Make it Snappy. 




Job No. 


32. 


Overdoing It. 




Tob No. 


33. 


Train for the Game. 




Job No. 


34. 


The "Jay Town Show." 




Job No. 


35. 


Ear Marks of Success. 




Job No. 


36. 


Blue Sky vs. Life Insurance. 




Job No. 


37. 


Fire Insurance vs. Life Insurance. 




Job No. 


38. 


Freak Competition. 




Job No. 


39. 


We Leave It to You. 





Part III. Training Apprentice Salesmen. 
Pages 101-116 

1. Never — Can — Be's. 

2. Salesmanship Leprosy. 

3. Mop Up the Trenches. 

4. Advice to Managers. 

5. Hew to the Line. 

6. Fundamentals. 

(1) Knowledge of Salesmanship Prin- 
ciples. 

(2) Practical System of Getting Prospects. 

(3) Knowing Why People Take Insur- 
ance. 

(4) Advance Preparation. 

(5) Thorough Familiarity With His Own 
Proposition. 

(6) Knowledge of Lodge Organization 
and Operation. 



Part IV. Whet-Stones. Pages 119-154. 

1. Too Late. 

2. Is Your Turn Next? 

3. Where? 

4. The Half Loaf. 

5. Don't Do It. 

6. Your Watchman Never Sleeps. 

7. An Example for Us. 

8. The Father's Income and Infant Mortality. 

9. When Ready Cash Counts Most. 

10. Who's An Embezzler? 

11. Where Will You Be at 65? 

12. Engagement Rings and Insurance. 

13. A Multiplicity of Losses. 

14. "Whatters." 

15. The One Sure Way. 

16. Honest Injun! 

17. Somebody Pays. 

18. Your Insurance Policy Will Stand. 

19. Is There a Shrinkage in Estates? 

20. The Majority Do Not Stick. 

21. Today's the Time. 

22. Some Half Century Developments. 

23. An Artistic View. 

24. The Elastic Fraternal Plan. 

25. Life Insurance Is Not a Gamble. 

26. Life Insurance Is an Exact Science. 

27. Yes, Our Lodges Will Come Back. 

28. Personal Service Counts. 

29. Plain Courtesy. 

30. Let Us Know Each Other Better. 

31. An All Right "Ism." 

32. The Interest Rate Is Low. 

33. Man Improves On Nature. 

34. The Higher Wage Level. 

35. The Fraternal Crusade. 



PART I 
THE TOOL -KIT 



PART I 
THE TOOL-KIT 

Tool No. 1. — Favorable First Impression 

On April 6th, 1917— the day that the United States 
formally entered the World War — we were rolling along 
the crest of the Liebre Mountains on one of Califor- 
nia's famous paved roads. Suddenly there burst around 
a curve a mile ahead of us a great Packard. It was 
rushing toward us at a speed of 30 miles an hour. As 
the two cars tore past each other we saw the words 
"Los Angeles Stage" on the wind-shield of the other 
car. The Packard was crowded with passengers. Such 
is the modern stage. 

When we reached Bakersfield we saw an old four- 
horse stage standing on the back end of a lot. It hadn't 
made a trip in many a long day. It was a deserted 
relic of the past. No one would now think of traveling 
by horse-drawn stage upon the magnificent roads of 
California. Such a vehicle no longer impresses the peo- 
ple there as a possible means of transportation. They 
appraise it and reject it instantly. 

When you approach a prospect, that prospect quickly 
appraises you. He may do it unconsciously but he does 
it just the same. Through his eye he gets a physical 
impression. Through his mind he gets a mental im- 
pression. From your words and actions he gets his first 
conscious impression. These impressions are favor- 
able to you or they are unfavorable. Possibly some are 
favorable while others are not. It all depends upon 
your personal outfit of qualifications. You should fit 
admirably into his conception of things. Under no 



12 THE TOOL-KIT 

circumstances should you impress him as being an- 
tiquated and ready for the discard. 

Of course, no salesman has all the natural advantages 
in the world. Nor has any salesman all the natural dis- 
advantages. Every successful salesman has to over- 
come some natural disadvantages as well as to acquire 
and cultivate some advantages besides those he has 
naturally. 

The importance of these first impressions upon the 
prospect can be readily appreciated, when you realize 
that they are the gateway to the road over which you 
must travel to get his name on the dotted line. If his 
impressions cause him to lock and bar the gate, your 
chances of success are small. You will have to employ 
the uncouth method of climbing over in order to get at 
him at all. If he opens the gate just a little, you have 
a fair chance of success. By the proper follow-up 
you may gain entrance in a dignified manner. If he 
throws the gate wide open, you walk through with the 
confident step of a conqueror who has every chance of 
success. 

These initial impressions are all important. It is with- 
in your power to make them favorable in practically 
every instance. We shall dwell upon them in our sub- 
sequent talks. We cherish the hope that they will be 
of value to you. 

Tool No. 2. — Personal Appearance 

If you hired a carpenter to build a residence and if he 
undertook to do the work with a hatchet and a hand- 
saw, you would chase him off the premises. He might 
build a chicken-coop with that outfit, but not a dwelling 
house. If you went into a barber shop and saw a row 
of butcher knives instead of razors, you would turn 



THE TOOL-KIT 13 

around and walk right out again. The barber might 
scrape a scalded hog with that equipment, but you don't 
consider yourself in the hog category. Satisfactory 
work can be done only with the right kind of equip- 
ment. 

In our previous talk we mentioned your personal out- 
fit of qualifications. By this we meant your personal 
equipment for your job. Your physical appearance 
makes the first impression upon your prospect. He gets 
that impression at a glance. It is favorable, indifferent 
or unfavorable. It affects the final result. That makes 
it important. 

Is your personal appearance clean? Are there any 
garden patches about your face, neck or ears? Are your 
teeth and hair poorly kept? Are your hands grimy? 
Do your nails betoken mourning for a lost friend? No- 
body likes to transact business with a guy who seems 
to have the mange, even in its incipient stages. Most 
people think the saying, "Cleanliness is next to Godli- 
ness," is in the Bible. It isn't. But, take it from us, 
cleanliness looms BIG in successful salesmanship. 

Is your personal appearance neat and pleasing? Is 
your face a stubble-field or heavily rouged? This last 
for the ladies. Do your clothes hang like a potato-sack 
over a stake? Does your necktie or vest talk for you in 
loud, boisterous tones? Do your shoes look as if they 
were the vintage of 1890? Everybody knows that clothes 
do not make the man but, excepting the hands and face, 
they are about all we see of a man during business 
hours. The same goes for women. Clothes count for 
a lot in salesmanship. 

Are you healthy in appearance? Good health is a sure 
index of right living. Right living will pay you health 
dividends and larger commissions. Your mind cannot 



14 THE TOOL-KIT 

be sound unless your body is sound. You must have an 
abundance of fresh air, both day and night. You should 
have good water at all times. You require a sufficient 
amount of wholesome food. You need plenty of sun- 
shine, of exercise and of rest. Right habits of living 
are as easy to acquire as wrong ones. Good health 
radiates energy. Its message is flashed instantly to the 
observing eye of your prospect. No man likes to trans- 
act business with a salesman, who has "one foot in the 
grave and the other on a banana peel." If you would 
be successful you must keep on the road to Wellville. 
In approaching every prospect your personal appear- 
ance is the first qualification of your personal outfit 
or equipment that comes into play. Without any strain 
on the imagination we can truthfully say it is the first 
tool you take out of vour life insurance tool kit every 
time you tackle a prospect. Other tools are brought into 
use in rapid succession until the job is finished. We shall 
tell about them in our later talks. Good tools are essen- 
tial to high class workmanship. They are within your 
reach but you must pay the price to get them. Be satisfied 
only with the best. 

Tool No. 3 — Mental Fearlessness, Self-Confidence and 
Ambition 

Do you know that there is a parable about the ostrich 
egg? Well, there is. A farmer once bought an ostrich 
egg, took it home and laid it down in his chicken yard. 
He had a flock of bantam chickens. As the little hens 
walked around the great ostrich egg, eyeing it with curi- 
osity, the farmer said to them, "Now you little rascals, 
take a good look at that and then do your best." 

During six months in 1920 a little lady stenographer 
in a broker's office took up life insurance as a side line. 



THE TOOL-KIT 15 

She wrote $560,500 of life insurance. To every life in- 
surance salesman we say, "take a good look at that little 
lady's record and then do your best." 

In our last chat we discussed the impression that your 
physical appearance makes upon your prospect. In 
every instance that impression is made instantly — much 
more quickly than we can tell about it or you can 
read about it. Let us now go a little deeper into your 
personal outfit and see what other tools you have in 
your salesmanship kit. 

Are you timid? Do you experience mental fear in ap- 
proaching a prospect? Most of us surfer much from lack 
of mental bravery. Thanks to the school-yard, the play- 
ground, and early tests of physical strength most of us 
overcome physical cowardice and acquire physical brav- 
ery. But when we enter the business world we soon 
discover that mental bravery hauls down the prizes. We 
need tests — trials of our mental courage. This admir- 
able mental quality can be cultivated and acquired as 
quickly as can physical courage. If you are timid, if you 
suffer from mental fear, your prospect can detect the 
fact in the first few words you utter. To be a success- 
ful salesman you must have mental fearlessness. Go 
after it and keep after it until you acquire it. Fight 
mental fear to a finish. Never side-step or duck an en- 
counter. Mental contests develop mental courage just 
as surely as physical encounters develop physical cour- 
age. Both kinds banish fear. 

Mental fearlessness begets self-confidence. This is an- 
other admirable trait. It, too, is necessary to success- 
ful salesmanship. Now don't confuse self-confidence 
with over-confidence. The latter trait is merely over- 
bearing egotism — a tare in the field of grain. Self-con- 
fidence perceives every opportunity — big or little — lays 



16 THE TOOL-KIT 

a firm hand upon it and makes full use of it. This won- 
derful mental trait leads you to analyze your mental 
powers and, figuratively speaking, to quarter them in 
their proper barracks, where they are ready to be called 
into action at a moment's notice. Through regular and 
systematic training of your mental qualities you learn to 
rely upon them as the trained athlete learns to rely upon 
the muscles of his body. Such training develops self- 
confidence and self-confidence will carry you over hur- 
dles, through quick-sands, across chasms and past dif- 
ficulties that are insurmountable to anyone but the man 
of strength. If you are possessor of this remarkable 
quality, your prospect soon becomes aware of the fact. 
This fine mental trait makes victory doubly sure. For 
that reason it is well worth acquiring. 

Then you must be ambitious. Mere wishing isn't am- 
bition. Wishing stultifies the mind while ambition 
arouses it. The wish-bone is forked. It goes in two 
directions but doesn't get anywhere. Besides, it is weak, 
as you well know if you ever pulled on one. The back- 
bone symbolizes ambition. It is straight and strong. It 
is built to carry burdens and it does not shirk. It is a 
worker, not an idler. It is practical, not fantastical. 
Your prospect will soon detect whether you are merely 
wishing for his application or whether you are ambitious 
and willing to work with might and main to get it. Put 
this handy mental implement in your tool-kit and you 
will find that it will serve you well, when you need it. 

Tool No. 4.— Will Power 

A 

Once more we take a look into your life insurance tool- 
kit to see what else is to be found within. The next 



THE TOOL-KIT 17 

qualification that our mental hand lays hold of is Will- 
power. 

Will-power is the great miracle-worker in the world. 
We know a man, who never had any legs. He has made 
a fortune. He drives his own automobile on pleasure 
tours for thousands of miles. We know of another man, 
without either arms or legs, who is the executive head 
of one of the largest business enterprises in the north- 
west. Remember the story of Mai Rose, whose body is 
paralyzed from the neck down and is rapidly ossifying? 
He is one of the happiest men on earth and composes 
some of the sweetest poetry that ever winged its flight 
from the fertile brain of man. These are but three ex- 
amples. They exist by the thousand. If men, and wo- 
men, too, with such frail bodies, have bridged the 
chasms on the road to success; surely you, who are 
sound of mind and strong of limb, can attain to any 
goal for which you strive. 

Will-power is not stubbornness. Don't confuse the 
two. Stubbornness is inflexible. It may break but it 
will not yield. Once broken, it is destroyed. Will- 
power is flexible. It will yield to win its point; then 
it flies right back into place, as strong as ever. Will- 
power can be thwarted temporarily but it cannot be de- 
feated permanently. If it finds that one avenue is 
closed, it seeks for another and finds it. The Bible says, 
"Seek and ye shall find." The great war hero said, "we'll 
fight it out along this line if it takes all summer." The 
basic injunction of the business world is, "Begin at the 
bottom and then persevere until you reach the top." 
The summed-up lesson of human history is, "Face for- 
ward and keep on going." 

It isn't the lack of desire that keeps people from 
having what they want. Every human being builds 



le THE TOOL-KIT 

castles in the air. Every human heart is full of wishing 
and of longing. Unwillingness to pay the price holds 
people back. Somehow they are incapable of learning 
the fundamental lesson of life that there is no reward 
without labor. The wisher grows faint of heart, the 
hoper crumples up under the hard, steady grind of 
achievement. Only the man whose mind and body are 
permeated and driven by the perpetual power of will, 
persists to the end. And that end is ever satisfactory. 

You know, I know, every life insurance salesman 
knows that applications must be sought out and pursued 
diligently before they can be secured. They come vol- 
untarily to no man. Life insurance is never bought; 
it is always sold. All your wishes, all your hopes, all 
your plans will come to naught unless they are vital- 
ized by work. You must follow in the footsteps of Edi- 
son, of Ford, of Rosenwald and of the thousands of 
other men who have achieved business success. The 
road is long and tortuous. There will be head-aches, 
heart-aches and body aches. Your Will-power, nothing 
else, can carry you to your journey's end. That end is 
success and it will be worthy of your effort. 

Tool No. 4.— Will Power 
B 

You want to write a good volume of business. You 
want to make money. You want to succeed. We know 
you do. You are not alone in your desires. The world 
is full of people, who "wish" to succeed. But wishing 
isn't enough; in fact, it is only the beginning. The 
"wish" to succeed must be followed by the "will" to suc- 
ceed. Nothing in this world is impossible to the man 
who wills, provided he wills strongly enough; but all 



THE TOOL-KIT 19 

things are denied to him who stops with mere wishing. 

You don't need to be large in stature. You do not 
require a gigantic intellect. It is not necessary that you 
be a remarkable genius. Your will power can carry you, 
with your present stature, your present intellect, your 
present ability, to any destination you may choose. 
Greater than all other handicaps combined is man's lack 
of will-power in action. 

Look at the little Ford motor. It is the smallest and 
simplest internal combustion engine in the world of 
transportation. It generates about 22 horse-power. 
You'll find it in every country on earth. You see it 
everywhere, — always in action, always going, always 
reaching its destination. The roads may be good; the 
roads may be poor; or there may be no roads. It is all 
one to that little motor. If it gets out of order, a black- 
smith, a plumber, a tinsmith, almost anyone, who can 
handle a wrench and a screwdriver, can fix it. Every- 
body pokes fun at it, everybody laughs at it; but it is 
the marvel and the wonder of the motor world. 

Model your will-power after that little motor. Put a 
load upon it every day and every night. Keep it in 
constant and continuous action. Some may turn up their 
noses at you; some may poke fun at you and others may 
laugh at you. What will that matter to you? When you 
honk your horn, all of them will know you are coming 
and they'll pull over to one side of the road as you go 
whizzing by. You can become a wonderful salesman, if 
you will. 

Tool No. 5.— Concentration 

We take another dip into your insurance tool kit. We 
pick up for close inspection another fine implement of 
salesmanship. It is Concentration. 

We know a boy just entering his teens. He is robust 



20 THE TOOL-KIT 

and fairly bristles with animal spirits. No one likes to 
romp, play and tussle any more than he. Yet that same 
boy can take a book, sit down to read it and become ut- 
terly oblivious to all outside influences. The room may 
be full of his play-mates. They may talk, laugh, sing, 
box or wrestle, but they do not disturb him in the least. 
His ears become deaf to sound. His eyes become glued 
to his book. His attention, all his mental powers, be- 
come centered upon his reading. That is Concentration. 

We see good examples of concentration in many walks 
of life. The base-ball fan is a good concentrator. The 
racing enthusiast is a splendid concentrator. The care- 
ful automobile driver continuously watches the road. 
The expert operator constantly observes the working 
of his machine in mill, factory or mine. The success- 
ful business man, be his business large or small, keeps 
his mind ever upon his business. 

The life insurance salesman is no exception. In fact, 
Concentration is more vital to him than it is to almost 
any other man. He must direct the prospect's thoughts 
into and along the proper channel. He must dominate 
the applicant's mind. Life insurance is sold; it is not 
bought. This fact cannot be emphasized too strongly 
nor too often. Imagine a salesman handing a prospect 
a printed list of policies issued by his society and asking 
him if there is anything on the list that he wants. Sales- 
men for groceries, for drugs or for other commodities 
may do that; but they are not salesmen in the true sense 
of the word; they are mere order-takers. Such methods 
never get any man away from the one-arm lunch room 
and they spell certain failure for the life insurance sales- 
man. 

To lead and dominate your prospect you must be 
master of the situation. You must arouse his interest 



THE TOOL-KIT 21 

and keep his attention chained to your proposition. The 
more capable you are of concentrating your own mind 
upon your proposition, the better success you will have 
with your prospect. You must be master of your own 
mind before you can hope for mastery over the minds 
of others. Study your society. Know it from A to Z. 
Study your proposition. Have it at your tongue's end. 
Map out sales' talks. Commit them to memory. Prac- 
tice them. Improve them. This will develop Concen- 
tration. Concentration will put more working hours into 
your days. It will enable you to accomplish in a few 
minutes what formerly required hours for you to do. 
It will increase the number and size of your applica- 
tions and reduce the number of your failures and disap- 
pointments. 

Concentration is a superb tool for the life insurance 
salesman. You should add it to your outfit. It will 
mean more business, more money and greater success. 
Tool No. 6. — Sincerity 

We go rummaging again in your life insurance tool 
kit. We want to see if you have that razor-edged in- 
strument, Sincerity, in your outfit. 

What is Sincerity? Is it a quality of the voice? No. 
Is it an expression of the eyes? No. Is it a cast of 
countenance? No. Is it an attitude of the body? No; it 
is none of these. It is that mental state of supreme con- 
fidence, of unwavering faith in yourself, in your proposi- 
tion and in the institution you represent. Your faith 
may be blind or it may be born of knowledge. The 
latter is the better kind. 

Sincerity blends with and colors all your other men- 
tal processes. It imparts to them a delicate and refined 
hue that nothing else in this world can give. What 
fragrance is to the rose; what flavor is to the orange; 



22 THE TOOL-KIT 

what tints of gold and crimson are to the sunset; these 
are what Sincerity is to your character as a salesman. 
Like perspiration it fairly oozes out of your system. It 
insensibly permeates the mind of your prospect, there- 
by laying the foundation for his confidence in you. 

There is no substitute for Sincerity. The blue-sky 
artist simulates it, once only. He doesn't return for re- 
peat orders. He doesn't build for permanency. He 
knows that he is a crook and he knows equally well that 
those, who trust him, will know it shortly after he is 
gone. His object is to put over one transaction and 
then hie to parts unknown. High pressure methods, 
trickery and gross deception enable him to succeed, 
once only. He goes in at the big end of the horn but 
ultimately comes out at the little end. 

Your purpose is entirely different. You are building 
for permanency. If a man once becomes your friend, 
you want him always to remain a friend. If a prospect 
once becomes a policy holder, you desire him always 
to be a policy-holder. You are anxious for people to 
become convinced of your sincerity and to retain that 
conviction throughout their lives. There is one way, 
and only one way, in which this end can be achieved. 
You must be sincere. Sincerity begets sincerity, for in 
this old world of ours like produces like. 

If you lack Sincerity you had better get out of the life 
insurance game. If you do not believe unreservedly in 
your institution and its proposition, you had better hook 
up with another institution. Seek success with all your 
might. Above all don't court failure. Sincerity is a 
necessary instrument in life insurance salesmanship. At 
the same time it is a delicate one. Keep it in your tool- 
kit and take good care of it. It is a first-class commis- 
sion booster. 



THE TOOL-KIT 23 

Tool No. 7. — A Good Memory 

Some people claim that February 2nd, is ground-hog 
day. Others say the 14th is the day. We'll not argue 
the point. The old saying is that the ground-hog, in 
case he sees his shadow, goes back into his hole and 
hides another six weeks. This is not the course for the 
live-wire salesman to pursue. Anytime a salesman sees 
his own shadow he may know he has slackened his pace. 
He is traveling towards hibernation, which is the land 
of sleep. The thing for him to do is to step out lively 
and come to a sales-grapple with some near-by prospect. 
Applications cast their shadows before them. If your 
eye-sight is keen you can see them. Those are the 
shadows you want to see. 

For some time we have been inspecting your personal 
outfit. In your salesmanship tool-kit we have already 
found many high class implements of the salesman's 
art. There were personal appearance as to neatness, 
cleaniness, health and strength; fearlessness; self-con- 
fidence; will power and ambition; concentration and 
sincerity. The list is not yet exhausted, hence we con- 
tinue our tour of inspection. 

One of the most strikingly important personal quali- 
fications of a salesman is a good memory. Who of us 
but marvels at the man who can call us by name after 
a single chance meeting? Such a feat is so unusual 
and so unexpected. It convinces us that we stand high 
in the man's esteem. It flatters our vanity more than 
most of us are willing to admit. The man reaps a ten- 
fold benefit, for we immediately classify him as a man 
of high attainments. At a single bound he has leaped 
all the hurdles that stood between him and our con- 
fidence. 



24 THE TOOL-KIT 

Now a good memory is not solely the gift of nature 
It can be cultivated and acquired by almost anyone. We 
frequently see systems for developing memory adver- 
tised in magazines and newspapers. Most of these 
systems are based upon "ingenuity methods" or the 
"association of ideas." Such systems are complicated 
and cumbersome. They are not necessary to the culti- 
vation of a good memory. You can get along better 
without them. 

When you meet a famous character, you have no 
trouble in remembering his name, his face and the at- 
tendant circumstances. This is because your eyes and 
ears are open and your mental faculties are wide awake. 
You concentrate your attention in such surroundings and 
get an intensified impression that literally sticks in your 
memory. Again, you have no difficulty in remembering 
the names and faces of people whom you meet frequent- 
ly. This is due to the fact that your mind gets the same 
impression a number of times. Each repetition of the 
impression strengthens the original impression and 
fastens it firmly in your memory. The real secret of a 
good memory is, therefore, intensity of impression and 
repetition. 

When you meet a man, concentrate your attention. 
Get his name. Don't lose it in a jumble of words or in a 
handshake. If you don't get his name the first time, 
ask for it. In your first conversation look the man in 
the eye, study his face and use his name a few times. 
If you deem it necessary, write his name in a little 
memorandum book after you leave him. Later on, re- 
peat his name and recall his face. You may make a 
poor showing at first, but don't despair. Don't even be- 
come discouraged. Keep everlastingly at it. Before you 
know it you will have a startling memory for names 



THE TOOL-KIT 25 

and faces. You will also find your memory much im- 
proved in other useful ways. 

A good memory is a most valuable asset for the sales- 
man. It cuts away the underbrush and leaves a clear, 
open road to success. It will even gloss over and cover 
up many other deficiencies. By all means you should 
add this personal qualification to your salesmanship tool- 
kit. Acquire it; use it, and then watch your commis- 
sions mount higher and higher. 

Tool No. 8.— Effective Speech 

Did you ever attend a good ball game? Of course, 
you have. Do you remember how the players on each 
side got out on the diamond and warmed up before the 
game commenced? You could not help but notice it. 
Now the purpose of that little preliminary practice was 
to put each player on edge so that he could deliver his 
base-ball ability effectively — so that he wouldn't muff a 
fly, let a "grass-eater" get by him, make a poor throw 
or fan out at bat. 

Your business also requires an effective delivery. 
Your delivery lies in your sales talk. You must be a 
good talker. It won't do for you to mumble your words. 
You can not afford to talk in a lame, halting, stumbling 
fashion. Your words must not be listless and lifeless. 
Nor on the other hand, do you dare to roar like a lion 
in the jungle. There is a right way of talking and there 
are many wrong ways. You must discover, acquire 
and employ the right way. 

Several generations ago Edmund Burke was the most 
famous orator in the English Parliament. Soon after 
beginning a speech his voice would crack and he would 
screech and howl his way through to the end. Before 
he had half finished nearly all the seats were vacant. He 



26 THE TOOL-KIT 

was nick-named the "dinner bell" of Parliament. As 
soon as his speeches appeared in print everybody rushed 
to get them. Burke's thoughts were all right but his 
delivery was unendurable. 

On many occasions we have heard men tell stories. 
Now all stories are not good ones and all men are not 
good story-tellers. We have known many a good story 
to be literally butchered by a bum delivery. Sometimes 
the narrator even left out the main point — the climax 
of the story. At other times the manner of telling was 
so tiresome that, when the end was reached, we were 
too much exasperated and too nearly worn out to give 
the hearty laugh of appreciation that the story deserved 
upon its own merits. 

A defective and crippled delivery will not serve your 
purpose. It will destroy your chances of becoming a 
successful salesman. In your interviews you must 
convert men to your way of thinking, if you are to be 
successful. You must not only convert them but you 
must get them to act before you leave them. You simply 
cannot put your proposition over unless you are effective 
in speech. To be effective you must be impressive. To 
be impressive you must pronounce your words clearly; 
you must emphasize important words; you must use 
pleasing inflections; you must avoid monotone and sing- 
song; you must talk slowly sometimes and rapidly at 
others; you must employ low tones and loud tones of 
voice; and the element of sincerity must pervade your 
entire sales' talk. 

You can develop effective speech or you can improve 
it. Demosthenes filled his mouth with pebbles and prac- 
ticed to develop his ability as an orator. He succeeded 
to an amazing extent. Practice performs miracles. Read 
your sales talks aloud. Recite them aloud. Read and 



THE TOOL-KIT 27 

recite other selections aloud. Practice in private. Prac- 
tice on others in public Practice! Practice! Practice! 

If you lack effective speech, develop it. If you have 
it already, improve it. You want nothing but high 
grade implements in your salesmanship tool-kit. They 
are the kind that magnetize the "iron boys." Your own 
reason, observation and experience will convince you 
that one of your personal qualifications must be effec- 
tiveness in speech. 

Tool No. 9. — Power of Suggestion 

Did you ever hear of a man playing a "hunch"? You 
have, frequently. People play "hunches" in card games. 
They buy on "hunches" on the board of trade. They 
bet on their "hunches" at the race tracks and in games 
of (no) chance. Some business men, but not the long- 
est-headed ones, follow their "hunches" in buying goods, 
in advertising and in selling. Many people can be in- 
duced to buy life insurance upon their "hunches." Part 
of your problem, as a salesman, is to deal successfully 
with these "hunches." 

Now what is a "hunch"? This is a question of con- 
siderable importance to you. You have heard of wom- 
an's intuition. It is reputed to be unerring and it gen- 
erally is in matters concerning her husband's habits or 
whereabouts. Intuition is nothing more or less than a 
"hunch." Man does not usually like to apply to him- 
self the terms that he applies to woman. It makes him 
feel effeminate. The present subject is a case in point. 
Woman's intuition and man's "hunches" are the self- 
same thing. 

The human mind is subject to two kinds of suggest- 
ions, conscious and subconscious. Conscious suggestions 
come either from outside sources or from the active 



28 THE TOOL-KIT 

conscious working of a person's own mind. Subcon- 
scious suggestions originate in the subjective or sub- 
conscious mind. Did you ever look into a spring and 
see the water come boiling and bubbling up through the 
sand at the bottom? That is just the way subconscious 
suggestions come boiling and bubbling up from the 
subconscious into the conscious mind. Always myster- 
ious, sometimes of compelling force, these subconscious 
suggestions, for want of a better name, are called 
"hunches." They probably originate from the remnant, 
or from a modified form, of a mental faculty, which in an 
earlier stage of existence was known as animal instinct. 

Whenever a prospect puts his name on the dotted line, 
you call it desirable action. That action is based upon 
the prospect's favorable decision. The decision in its 
turn is based either upon the prospect's judgment or 
upon his "hunch"; perhaps, upon both. Judgment is the 
result of more or less perfect reasoning based upon con- 
scious suggestions. You may be responsible for all of 
these conscious suggestions or for only a part of them. 
If a favorable decision, in any given case, depends en- 
tirely upon judgment it is quite necessary that you 
arouse suggestions that lead neither to argument nor to 
hostility. It is equally necessary that you prevent the 
prospect's own mind from developing conscious sug- 
gestions that lead to argument or hostility. Most people 
think, offhand, that argument is the best way of settling 
any question right. The fact is that argument never 
settles any question unless there is a court, an arbitrator, 
a referee or some third person who makes the decision. 
An argument between two people invariably leads to 
hostility. Right judgments and favorable decisions do 
not grow out of a hostile attitude. 

But a favorable decision is not always based on judg- 



THE TOOL-KIT 29 

ment. Sometimes subconscious suggestions of the pros- 
pect are in evidence. Whenever a "hunch" is present, 
you must be quick to detect it. If the "hunch" coincides 
with the prospect's judgment, you have easy sailing. If 
the "hunch" runs counter to the prospect's judgment 
you have a real problem on your hands. In such a case 
either the judgment or the "hunch" will control. If the 
prospect's judgment is against you and his "hunch" is 
with you, your success will probably lie in playing his 
"hunch" against his judgment. If the reverse be true, 
your best course will be to play his judgment against 
his "hunch." 

In all games of chance people usually follow their 
"hunches" in preference to their judgment. The same 
rule is very largely applicable in the case of those who 
deal on boards of trade and stock exchanges. This 
course seems to be one of the perversities of human 
nature. It is the real reason why there are so many 
losers and so few winners. 

Man is not yet a simon-pure reasoning and reasonable 
creature. He shows at his best in ordinary business 
transactions and at his worst in gambling and specula- 
tion. Knowing him as you do, or must, you should deal 
with him accordingly. Your ability to induce favorable 
suggestions, both conscious and unconscious, is a great 
asset in salesmanship. It is an ability that can be ac- 
quired and developed. You need it in your life insurance 
tool kit. Get it, keep it and improve it. 

Tool No. 10— Tact 

A 

You have doubtless read of the scimitar, the keenest 
cutting weapon ever made by man. It has the fine edge 



30 THE TOOL-KIT 

of a razor and can be used in so delicate an operation 
as splitting a hair. At the same time so great is its 
strength that a dexterous hand can employ it to cleave 
the skull or split in twain the body of an enemy. It is a 
marvelous weapon. 

To all your abilities, if you would be a highly success- 
ful salesman, you must add a razor-like edge, similar to 
the keen cutting edge of the scimitar. With that sharp 
edge you can either gently carve or furiously slash your 
way to success. Whether you will carve or slash will 
depend upon the circumstances in the individual case. 
This keen edge of the salesman's ability has a name and 
that name is Tact. 

Tact consists of saying the right thing, in the right 
way and at the right time. This sounds like a truism. 
So it is. It also sounds easy. It is — not. Tact may be 
employed in a positive way by saying the right words, 
in the right way and at the right time; or, it may be em- 
ployed in a negative way by saying nothing, in the right 
way and at the right time. This simply means that Tact 
sometimes requires the use of spoken words and at other 
times demands silence. From occasions of the latter 
kind arose the familiar saying, "silence is golden." 

The theory of Tact is a science. The practice of Tact 
is an art — a fine art at that. You must be its master 
both in theory and in practice in order to be a top-notch 
salesman. There are several well established rules for 
the employment of Tact. To observe and to follow these 
rules means success. To disregard them spells failure. 

Rule 1 is: Think before you speak. You may do this 
thinking just prior to speaking or you may have done 
it weeks, or months or even years before. This all de- 
pends upon circumstances. The Declaration of Inde- 
pendence existed in Jefferson's mind long before it was 



THE TOOL-KIT 31 

put on paper. Webster's reply to Hayne took form in 
his mind years before its delivery in the U. S. Senate. 
In your own case years of training and experience may 
be back of your spoken words or of your silence, as the 
case may be. The present is always the child of the 
past. Primarily you must consider the effect of your 
words upon your hearer, the prospect. Secondarily, you 
must consider the ultimate effect of your words upon 
yourself, the attainment of your purpose. That purpose 
is the making of a sale. 

Rule 2 is: Speak well of others, especially competitors. 
If you cannot do so, then preserve silence. Neither fair 
words nor discreet silence ever prove a roorback. They 
characterize the salesman as being well above the aver- 
age grade of human clay. They generate a wholesome 
respect in the mind of the prospect. It is the habit of 
intelligent men and women (your prospects) to credit 
words of disparagement to motives of envy, of hostility, 
of unfairness and of falsehood. An attack upon a com- 
petitor is usually regarded as being based upon a desire 
to deceive. Such tactics are generally recognized as an 
appeal to the lower elements of human nature. This 
method defeats the making of many sales in the first 
instance. A sale that is so made is not well made. The 
victory is only a temporary one at best. Sooner or later 
there is a rebound, a reaction that results in a reversal 
of the former verdict. Such a reversal may carry with 
it the undoing of other sales. Such sales are not the 
healthy products of salesmanship. They are deformities. 
Avoid them. 

Rule 3 is: Steer clear of argument. Don't introduce 
topics that are debatable. Don't join issue upon points 
or subjects that lead to argument. By failing to observe 
this rule you take the sure road to failure. In our last 



32 THE TOOL-KIT 

talk we pointed out the futility of argument in salesman- 
ship. A lawyer may convince the judge or the jur} r by 
argument but he can never convince the client of oppos- 
ing counsel. At the beginning of our Civil War so great 
a man as Lincoln, a past-master of tact, sought to hold 
the border states in line by a plan of purchasing all their 
slaves. His argument fell on callous ears. Argument is 
a proper procedure for convincing a court, a board of 
arbitration or other third party. But in salesmanship 
there is no third party. There are the salesman and 
his prospect and no one else. Surely it is apparent that 
argument is not a fit instrument for the salesman's tool 
kit. It is an ax laid at the root of the tree of salesman- 
ship. 

You can observe the rules of Tact and still not have 
the appearance of being a dried-up human "cracklin'." 
By doing so you will be more interesting to others, 
better liked by others, more convincing and more suc- 
cessful. You will take your place beside men who put 
things over in this world. That's what you want. Tact 
is a marvelous instrument of salesmanship. By all means 
you should have it among the implements in your sale's 
kit. 

Tool No. 10— Tact 

B 

We take time to make a few further helpful observa- 
tions upon Tact. In a recent number of a great insurance 
journal is related an incident of a life insurance salesman 
landing a wealthy farmer prospect. The farmer motored 
to town one evening to be examined. Afterwards the 
salesman took him to the leading cafe to dine. When 
the soup arrived the farmer began almost literally to 
gargle it . The cafe was crowded and the near by diners 



THE TOOL-KIT 33 

began to manifest their amusement. It was an embar- 
rassing situation for the salesman. He was too wise 
and too polite to criticize the farmer. It would have 
lost him the application. At the same time he realized 
that the amused derision of the neighboring diners 
would soon produce a crisis that might lead to the loss 
of the application. Quick thinking and quick acting 
saved the situation. Suddenly the salesman began to 
gargle his soup. He decidedly out-gargled the farmer. 
Very soon he leaned across the table and said, "our 
empty-headed neighbors seem to be getting a lot of en- 
joyment out of the way we eat our soup. I hate to have 
a set of boobs laugh at me in a public place. Let's cut 
out our noise so they can get their little minds back upon 
their own business." 

That was Tact. The salesman exhibited a masterly 
mind in action. He avoided the wounding of the farm- 
er's feelings. He averted an ugly scene in the cafe. 
He saved an application that was very near the point 
of being lost. More than that he made a life-long friend 
and booster. The farmer has since taken a larger 
amount of insurance and has already helped the sales- 
man to place more than $50,000 of other insurance. The 
end is not yet. 

Tact is a precious talent. It can be acquired. It is 
largely a combination of politeness and common sense. 
It is the salesman's magic key that will unlock practical- 
ly every door. It costs little but it pays enormous 
dividends in dollars and cents. It also brings to the 
salesman that high degree of satisfaction "that passeth 
understanding." 



34 THE TOOL-KIT 

Tool No. 11— Display of Interest 

One day in May, 1921, we started out at 7 a. m. to take 
a little walk before breakfast. There wasn't a cloud in 
the sky and we could see the bright shimmer of the 
morning sun on the placid waters of Lake Michigan. The 
delicate aroma of flowers and fruit blossoms was dis- 
cernible in the spring-time air. Birds were singing and 
twittering in the branches. Somewhere a red-head was 
hammering loudly on a wooden coping. A few ladies 
and an occasional man were taking their house dogs 
for their morning stroll. Altogether it was a peace- 
ful scene. 

But it is never more than a stone's throw from peace 
I to war. The world, all nature presents an unbroken 
and never-ending series of conflicts. Everywhere and 
always the battle for the survival of the fittest is being 
waged. We had gone about two blocks when we wit- 
nessed a striking example of this ceaseless warfare.- In 
a parkway newly sowed grass was about two inches 
high. In this grass was a robin diligently pecking at 
something for its breakfast. Around the grass-plot and 
about a foot above the ground had been stretched a 
single strand of wire. On this wire and as near to the 
robin as it could get was perched an English sparrow. 
It was nervously and intently watching the robin. Sud- 
denly the sparrow made a dive, plucked the morsel of 
food (a piece of apple) from the ground, flew to the 
stone curb four or five feet away and leisurely devoured 
the remnant of the robin's breakfast. The robin made 
no effort to rescue its property. It hopped nervously 
back and fourth, halted occasionally and acted as if it 
hoped the sparrow would, for some reason, fly away and 
leave the apple uneaten. As soon as the apple disappeared 



THE TOOL-KIT 35 

the robin again took up the search for food. The sparrow 
once more flew to the wire and from this perch patient- 
ly and confidently waited for the robin to make another 
find. 

From this incident of the birds may be drawn some 
valuable lessons for salesmanship. The English sparrow 
is a bolshevist. It is noisy and lazy. It has never 
formed the habit of searching or working for its food. 
It lives mostly in our cities. Since the usual source of 
its food supply has dwindled and almost disappeared, 
the sparrow has become a highway robber in birdland. 
It has, therefore, become interested in other birds. By 
a study of their characteristics it has found that it can 
rob some kinds of birds with impunity while other kinds 
it must let severely alone. This bandit among birds plies 
its trade accordingly. 

The successful salesman cannot be a bolshevist. He 
cannot be noisy or lazy. Nor can he follow the rules 
of banditry. The blue sky artist is a near-bandit but 
the honest salesman is far, far removed from that sphere. 
The good salesman is a specialist. While he does not 
go out directly in search of food, clothing, shelter, etc., 
in an indirect way he does that very thing. He works 
for a financial return which is the equivalent of all the 
necessities, comforts and luxuries that he desires. He 
sells what some other people want. Some other people, 
who are specialists in other lines, make and sell what 
he wants. Through the instrumentality of money and 
credit all desirable exchanges are effected and every 
individual is supplied. 

One characteristic of the English sparrow is worthy 
of emulation. It takes a deep interest in the birds from 
which it expects to derive its living. The successful 
salesman must do that very thing. Right there the 



36 THE TOOL-KIT 

emulation ends. For the sparrow's practice of robbery 
the salesman must substitute the principle of fair ex- 
change. Strong arm methods have no place in high- 
class salesmanship. 

Before a salesman can sell a life insurance policy he 
must convince the prospect that the policy fits that 
prospect's needs. He must get the prospect's story be- 
fore he can know the prospect's needs. Some people 
tell their story willingly. Others are more reticent, but 
well timed and well directed questions will draw out 
the story of any man. A sympathetic and interested 
listener will rarely fail to get the story. The one thing 
in the world that everyone knows the most about is 
himself. In the last analysis every person is more inter- 
ested in himself than in anything else in the universe. 
This fundamental fact is stated somewhat bluntly but it 
is true nevertheless. 

In the matter of Interest imitate the English sparrow 
sitting on the wire and watching the robin. Get the 
story of the people whom you expect to sell. You may 
not sell them today but you probably will do so next 
week, next month or next year. After they have laid 
their cards upon the table you will be in a position to 
know almost to a certainty what card to play to land 
them. A proper Display of Interest will not fail to draw 
your prospects to you and to your proposition. It is a 
most effective implement of salesmanship. You need 
it and should have it in your sale's tool kit. 

Tool No. 12— Habit of Industry 

Every salesman must have the Habit of Industry. The 
morning of every working day you must start your day's 
work. You must be a self-starter. Nobody else will 
start you. Not only must you start but you must keep 



THE TOOL-KIT 37 

on going until your day's work is done. You can't park 
in a hotel lobby, in a ball park, at some golf club. You 
must be a self-propeller. No one else will keep you go- 
ing. Starting and going, — these are the fundamental ele- 
ments of the Habit of Industry. 

Opportunities are of no value to you, unless you 
take advantage of them. Knowing what should be done 
under the circumstances won't get you anywhere, unless 
you go ahead and do it. The ability to sell life insurance 
will net you no commissions, unless you apply your 
ability. The choicest rewards of this world go to the 
men and women who do things. 

Charlie Pauly, the caretaker of our Home Office 
Building, has the habit of industry. He sees things that 
need to be done without anyone pointing them out to 
him. He does things that need to be done without hav- 
ing to be told to do them. If cob-webs gather in a cor- 
ner, he sees them and removes them. If a lock, a 
hinge, or a window pane is broken, he finds it out and 
replaces it. When the windows get dirty, he washes 
them. When the grass needs cutting or the hedge needs 
trimming, he does it. There isn't a lazy bone in his 
body. He earns his money and it is a pleasure to pay 
it to him. 

In the case of manual labor or any kind of work that 
is largely routine, self-starting and self-propelling char- 
acteristics are not absolutely essential, although they 
are very desirable. Such workers usually have close and 
immediate supervision. In stores, shops, factories, 
mines and fields there are bosses, foremen, superinten- 
dents, and general managers. They are the directing 
powers. But the life insurance salesman is out in the 
field, alone. He must be his own boss, his own foreman, 



38 THE TOOL-KIT 

his own superintendent, his own general manager, his 
own directing power. 

The Habit of Industry is the driving shaft in the mech- 
anism of salesmanship. The salesman's will is the 
motive power, the internal combustion motor, that pro- 
pels this driving shaft. The salesman's knowledge of 
insurance in general and of his own proposition in par- 
ticular, his other qualifications for salesmanship, in a 
word his personality, constitute the gears, wheels, frame 
and stream-line body of the salesmanship machine. All 
these, properly co-ordinated, make the dependable and 
successful salesman. 

In our talks we have likened essential qualifications to 
implements in a salesman's tool kit. Refresh your recol- 
lection by reviewing those themes. To your list of tools 
should now be added the Habit of Industry. Without it 
you cannot succeed. If you already have it, good. If 
you have it not, then acquire it. Be a good self-starter 
and a good self-propeller. Then you cannot possibly 
be a failure. 

Tool No. 13— -Reliability 

Suppose you should go to bed at 10 o'clock some star- 
light night and wake up at 8 o'clock to find neither cloud 
nor sun in the sky. Would you be surprised? Startled? 
Affrighted? You certainly would. Nature's promise 
of a rising sun every morning would be broken. You 
could not even imagine what had happened, what was 
happening or what would happen. There is no prob- 
ability of such a situation arising. Nature keeps her 
promises. She always has and she always will. 

Therein lies the element of Reliability. There is the 
pattern for every salesman's life. Never make a prom- 
ise that you do not keep. Never make a promise that 



THE TOOL-KIT 39 

is impossible for you to keep. Never make one that 
you do not intend to keep. Among the few basic qual- 
ities of good character none stands higher than Reli- 
ability. Without that quality all the other qualities will 
be very greatly depreciated, no matter how good they 
may be in themselves. With that quality all the others 
will be immeasurably enhanced in value, even if these 
others be miserably poor or weak within themselves. 
Reliability is the highest peak in the mountain range of 
human character. 

What is unselfishness, if coupled with unreliability? 
Nothing. What is good appearance, fearlessness, self- 
confidence, ambition, will power, concentration, good 
memory, effective speech, tactfulness, or the habit of 
industry without reliability? A delusion and a snare. 
What is sincerity, without reliability? Hypocrisy pure 
and simple. Reliability is the magnetic center around 
which all the other qualities of character revolve. 

A man without Reliability is a liar. He can't be any- 
thing else. Who wants to work for an unreliable em- 
ployer? Who is anxious to employ unreliable workers? 
Who desires to engage the services of an unreliable law- 
yer, physician, engineer, accountant, mechanic, etc.? 
Who wishes to deal with an unreliable business man or 
institution? All these questions answer themselves. 

We are told that Hades is paved with "good inten- 
tions." The term "good intentions" means "broken 
promises" and they are the progeny of unreliability. 
We know, as much as we can know anything in this 
world, that the one absolutely sure road to failure is 
paved with "broken promises." Successful life insur- 
ance salesmen know this as well, perhaps better than 
any other class of men. You don't find them fur- 
nishing any blocks of "broken promises" to pave either 



40 THE TOOL-KIT 

the highway to failure or the floor of the infernal re- 
gions. 

Wise people everywhere realize that Reliability in 
character corresponds to dependability in machinery. It 
is the one quality above all others that people want in a 
man with whom they deal, or in a machine that they use. 

By all means acquire the quality of Reliability. Main- 
tain it in Al condition. Keep it in your salesmanship 
tool kit. It will double, triple, yes quadruple the value 
of every other tool and implement in your outfit. Make 
good on your promises and you will make good on com- 
missions. Success is the favorite child of Reliability. 

A Last Word. 14— Watch Your Step 

We have now completed the list of sales' tools that 
you should have in your tool-kit. Permit us to call 
your attention to two or three additional matters per- 
taining thereto. 

1. The chief value of tools of any kind lies neither in 
their ownership nor possession. It lies in their use. The 
best tool, the finest implement, the most costly machine 
ever made is worth absolutely nothing if it cannot be 
applied to practical purposes. Tools and machinery are 
designed and made for just two fundamental reasons: 
(1) to economize labor and (2) to increase production. 
All along we have explained and insisted that high-grade 
tools of salesmanship will save much unnecessary work 
on your part and vastly increase your volume of busi- 
ness. After possessing yourself of the much desired 
tools of salesmanship, your big problem is to apply them 
to their most capable uses. We enlarge upon this phase 
of your work in Part II of this volume. 

2. Proper care must be taken of tools and machinery, 
else they soon become useless; hence of no value. They 



THE TOOL-KIT 41 

must not be left to suffer from neglect and exposure. 
Neither must they be applied to improper purposes nor 
improperly applied even to their intended purposes. 
Wrong usage and ill usage will eventually ruin tools 
and machinery just as surely as will neglect and expos- 
ure. What is true of mechanical tools and machinery is 
equally true of the tools of salesmanship. Some time and 
some intelligent effort must be devoted to keeping your 
implements of salesmanship in first class condition. Part 
IV of this volume will give you many valuable sugges- 
tions along this line. 

3. The workman, who plies the tools or operates the 
machinery, must keep himself fit. At his particular 
post of duty, he not only represents the institution for 
which he works; to all intents and purposes he actually 
is the institution itself. Out on the selling line you are 
not only a salesman but you are also the embodiment of 
your society. To the members in your territory, to your 
friends, to the people who know you, you are the gauge 
or standard by which they measure your society. Few 
of them ever see the Home Office. Few of them ever 
meet representatives direct from the Home Office. To 
them you personify your proposition and your institu- 
tion. 

Your mistakes and mis-steps will disparage the so- 
ciety as much as they damage your own reputation. If 
you are a loafer; if you are a card fiend; if you don't pay 
your bills; if you travel the primrose path, you may be 
sure that some of your members, some of your friends, 
some of those who know you, will learn of your short- 
comings. Eventually all of them will become aware 
of the facts. Everyone of them will indulge in a mental 
monologue about as follows: "I wonder if his society 
knows what kind of a man he is. Why doesn't it 



42 THE TOOL-KIT 

find out? That would be easy. Oh! I guess the society 
knows him alright. It probably doesn't care. Birds of 
a feather flock together. The society is likely no better 
than he is, maybe not so good. I don't want anything 
to do with a society like that." So there you are, Mr. 
Salesman, so-called. You have destroyed your society's 
standing in your neck-o'-the-woods. It will cost ,time, 
money and hard work to repair the injury you have 
wrought. 

Keep yourself fit. You need not be a saint, nor a 
moral crank, nor a reformer to be an Al life insurance 
salesman. Be a live wire and act like a live wire. Then 
everyone will put his o. k. on you and on the society you 
represent. 

KEEP YOUR SALES' TOOLS IN FINE CONDITION. 
PUT THOSE TOOLS TO THEIR BEST POSSIBLE USE. 

WATCH YOUR STEP. 



PART II 

PLYING THE TOOLS 

OF 

SALES-CRAFT 



PART II. 
PLYING THE TOOLS OF SALES-CRAFT 

Job No. 1 — General Specifications 

There are three necessary and natural steps in making 
a sale. The first step is the salesman's approach to the 
prospective buyer. The second step is the salesman's 
demonstration of his proposition to the prospective buy- 
er. The third step is closing the sale. These three steps, 
in some form, have been present in every sale ever made. 
There have been no exceptions. There never will be 
any. 

Every time you fail to make a sale it is because you 
fall down in one or more of these steps, unless the pros- 
pect is uninsurable on account of race, age, occupation, 
physical condition or family history. If you will take the 
time to analyze your own experience you will clearly see 
that such is the case. Selling life insurance is really 
a game. It can be learned like any other game, such as 
cards, pool, billiards, croquet, tennis, base-ball or golf. 
To become a success at any game one must first acquire 
a knowledge of the rules of the game. He must next 
acquire skill in the application of these rules. Study and 
practice develop the expert in any game. Salesman- 
ship falls in the same category. 

Whether your experience be limited or extensive, you 
know what you have to do to get a name on the dotted 
line. The three main divisions of selling have been des- 
ignated in our first paragraph. All the rules of the game 
fall within these three divisions. The many rules are 
of varying importance. Some are usually of minor im- 
portance but may occasionally become of major impor- 



46 PLYING THE TOOLS OF SALES-CEAFT 

tance in a given case. Some are usually of major im- 
portance but may occasionally become of minor impor- 
tance in some particular case. 

Boiled down the rules of major importance are six in 
number. They are as follows: 1. Approach your pros- 
pect in such a way as to secure a favorable hearing. 2. 
Bring your prospect to the buying point. 3. When you 
feel that your prospect is ready, try to close him. 4. 
Don't directly ask him to buy. Assume that he is ready 
and start filling out his application. 5. If you find your 
prospect isn't yet ready to buy, start selling him again. 
6. Sell your prospect so that he will stay sold. 

In our succeeding talks we shall enlarge upon and en- 
deavor to elucidate the three natural steps in selling and 
the rules applicable to the game of life insurance sales- 
manship. 

Job No. 2 — Make the Right Connection 

Most people, who take life insurance, know very little 
about the subject. This is true of financial giants, pro- 
fessional men, farmers, laborers. They have practically 
no information about the different life insurance com- 
panies or fraternal societies. Men use their own judg- 
ment or seek expert advice in the purchase of real estate, 
stocks and bonds, or merchandise. Usually they do 
neither when they buy life insurance. 

People buy their life insurance, as a rule, because of 
their confidence in the salesman. Review your own ex- 
perience. How many times has your applicant taken 
your word absolutely as to the terms of your policy and 
the standing of your society? How often has an ap- 
plicant asked you for a sample policy, either for per- 
sonal examination of for submission to some other per- 
son for examination? How many times in all your ex- 



PLYING THE TOOLS OF SALES-CRAFT 47 

perience has an applicant asked you for official statisti- 
cal information or for references as to the standing of 
your Society? How many members have been secured 
in actual and severe competition? 

To your applicants you have personified and repre- 
sented the policy that you sold them. To them you have 
likewise personified and represented your society. Is it 
not so? Since this is so, every element of character that 
inspires confidence in you makes for you greater suc- 
cess. If you gain the confidence of the people you will 
be able to sell life insurance. 

Connect with a society of established standing and 
stability. Avoid all others. Sell a policy that you know 
will stand all tests. D'on't handle any other kind. Then 
develop a personality that inspires and retains confi- 
dence. The insuring public will become your domain 
and the limit of your success will be marked only by 
your capacity for work. 

The right connection at the start will save you from 
future heart-aches, head-aches, loss of prestige, business 
and money and from the necessity of having to start 
at the bottom a second time. 

Job No. 3— Start Right 

The best advice we can give you as a beginner is "Get 
off on your right foot." 

The origin of this expression is lost in the obscurity 
of ages past. It was old and gray when recorded his- 
tory began some six or seven thousand years ago. It 
undoubtedly originated when foot racing first came into 
vogue among primitive men. It was good advice then, 
and it is just as good today. 

To "get off on the right foot" meant to get the quick- 
est, hence the best, start. But the best start did not alone 



48 PLYING THE TOOLS OF SALES-CBAFT 

win the race. The winning of a race always did and 
always will involve rigorous training. The successful 
foot-racer practices for quick starting. He practices for 
speed. He diets for condition. He studies air resist- 
ance. He plans and trains to cut out all waste motion 
and, if possible, to make one step do the work of two. 
He does this because it is the only known means where- 
by he can be the first across the tape. 

"Getting off on the right foot" is just as essential to 
business success — to your personal success — as it is to 
the winning of a foot race. Except in very rare in- 
stances in the field of speculation, business success never 
comes by chance. Success requires previous training. 
Such training develops quick perception, clear vision and 
mental tenacity. You must study, analyze and master 
your proposition. Study human resistance which you 
must meet. Pare down and cut out wasteful uses of 
your energy. Dig up and follow all the shortest cuts. 
To be most effective you must get across the dotted 
line in the shortest possible time. 

A right start means much. It has won many a race 
that would have been lost without it. It has meant bus- 
iness success to many men where a poor start would 
have meant failure. But the most that a right start 
can give you is an initial advantage. This initial ad- 
vantage can be and frequently is quickly lost. There 
must be no let-up in the pace. Slackening speed spells 
disaster and disappointment. 

"Get off on your right foot" and keep going at the 
maximum limit of your ability. If you do this you are 
sure of SUCCESS. 



PLYING THE TOOLS OF SALES-CRAFT 49 

Job No. 4 — System Is Necessary 

Managers of successful business establishments and 
successful salesmen agree unanimously upon the neces- 
sity of working according to system. 

The man who succeeds best works every day. He 
makes every day produce its share of results or knows 
the reason why. He maps out his plan of operation and 
then checks up on himself to see if he is carrying out 
his plan. 

In some written form the successful salesman makes 
a daily record of his calls, canvasses, prospects closed 
and new leads secured. He keeps a careful record of 
the hours devoted to actual work. 

When such a plan is diligently followed for a few 
weeks the salesman cannot avoid making a number of 
discoveries. First of all he learns of many hours that 
are absolutely wasted. Second, he discovers weaknesses 
in his manner of approaching or canvassing prospects. 
Third, he perceives that there are numerous short-cuts 
to desirable results that were before unknown to him. 
Fourth, he discovers that others are beginning to re- 
spect his energy and his ability and are willing to help 
him. Fifth, he sees clearly that unlimited success lies 
before him. 

Now, system exists in every form of salesmanship. It 
is present in every sale or attempted sale. It may be the 
poorest system, hardly worthy of the name; it may be a 
fair, a good, an excellent or even a superb system. Your 
system is of your own creation. Do you know where to 
classify it? Are you satisfied with it? Does it get the 
results? No one needs to answer these questions for 
you. You can answer them yourself. 

Analyze your own system. Root out the wasted hours. 



50 PLYING THE TOOLS OF SALES-CRAFT 

Cull out the weak spots. Incorporate all the effective 
short cuts to desirable results. Keep a written record. 
Check yourself up at the end of every day. If you do 
these things you will be in the rank of top-notch sales- 
men and everybody worth while will know of it and 
respect you accordingly. 

Job No. 5 — Salesmanship Engineering 

We have just called your attention to the necessity of 
a plan or system, carefully worked out and followed, in 
your work. No system will develop itself nor will it 
produce results of itself. You must be the insurance 
engineer who discovers and develops a system adapted 
to your own abilities and methods. Then you must be 
the motive power that sets your system into operation 
so that results will be obtained. 

Many people have become independently rich through 
selling life insurance. It may surprise you to be informed 
that several of these people have become rich by selling 
fraternal insurance; nevertheless such is the fact. 

These people were ambitious. They had a goal to 
attain. They had a consuming desire not only to excel 
the records of others but also to excel their own records. 
If they wrote 10 applications in one month, they tried to 
write 12 or, possibly, 15 the next month. If they averaged 
one application every third day they bent every energy 
to write an application every second day. It they wrote 
$100,000 of insurance during the first six months of a 
year then they went their limit to write $125,000 or $150,- 
000 during the second six months. Many men and 
women have accomplished these feats. Some are doing 
it today. 

How do they do it? First of all they develop a system. 
Then they follow this system. It is the business high- 



PLYING THE TOOLS OF SALES-CRAFT 51 

way along which they travel to success just the same as 
a track is the road along which trains travel to their 
destination. Railroad companies cut down grades, fill in 
depressions and eliminate curves to reduce the cost of 
transportation. In a similar way the successful life 
insurance salesman seeks to improve his system. He 
finds new and easier ways to gain an audience, more 
interesting and forcible ways of presenting his proposi- 
tion, better and quicker methods of avoiding and over- 
coming objections. Every such improvement in his 
system saves time, labor and worry. The salesman 
discovers the shortest route to results and results pro- 
duce satisfaction, increased power and greater financial 
returns. 

Any man or woman, who can sell anything at all, can 
make a success of the life insurance proposition. A con- 
tract with a reliable society, — one whose future is before 
it, not behind it, — is essential. No other kind of a society 
can give you an insurance proposition that will stand up 
under the rigid tests and strains of the future. That is 
the only kind of a proposition you should undertake to 
handle. But at that it won't sell itself. This is where 
you come in. This is where you take hold and demon- 
strate to yourself and to others just what you can do. 
Such a proposition is worthy of the best that you have 
in you. Go to it with might and main and you will 
establish a record that will be hard for anyone else to 
equal. 

Job No. 6 — Standardize Your Work 

We hear much today about the standardization of 
parts in the manufacture of automobiles, ships, guns. 
Interchangeable parts are often standardized to one- 
thousandth of an inch. Such standardization contributes 



52 PLYING THE TOOLS OF SALES-CRAFT 

immeasurably to the efficiency and longer life of highly 
complicated machinery or mechanisms. 

Standardization is just as necessary to your work as 
it is in the realm of mechanics. It is a necessary part of 
your system. Nothing will so effectively eliminate inter- 
ference, absorb road shocks, reduce thrust or side- 
motion, cut out lost motion and net names on the dotted 
line as will standardized operations of work on your part. 

You should have a standardized sales talk. This is a 
talk that you can use in practically every interview. You 
may not be able to use it word for word in every case but 
you can invariably follow it in outline. By testing your 
sales talk upon a large number of prospects you can 
improve it until it becomes virtually standardized. 

In their work some life insurance salesmen have been 
known to get an average of one application out of every 
two interviews. Such workers are, indeed, rare. Others 
have been known to average one application out of every 
three interviews; others, one in four; and still others, one 
in five. Why do such workers so greatly excel others in 
the same line of work? This question is often asked. 
Many are the answers that are given to it. But the real 
secret of the greater success of such workers lies in the 
fact that they have a standardized sales talk. They have 
taken the pains to develop a master's hand and they 
apply it in a masterly way to their work. 

You can do in a large measure what such workers have 
done. It is not so much a matter of superior intelligence 
as it is of unflagging industry. The mechanic devotes 
years to study, to experiment and to practical work to 
the end that he may become an expert. He pays the 
price and achieves the desired result. You, too, must 
pay the price, if you are to become a highly successful 



PLYING THE TOOLS OF SALES-CRAFT 53 

salesman. Real success comes only to those who pay 
the price in full. 

Job No. 7— The Mystic 'Triangle 

Motive power is vital to the operation of machinery. 
Coal or oil, as fuel, generates steam and drives the loco- 
motive. Gasoline or kerosene generates gas and drives 
the automobile or aeroplane. Fuel or the waterfall gen- 
erates electricity, which operates machinery in factory, 
mill and mine. Without motive power every wheel in 
the world would be idle. 

Not only must there be motive power but this power 
must be sufficient. The locomotive, the automobile, the 
aeroplane would be worth little if they could not com- 
plete their journeys. Machinery would avail mankind 
but little if it could not be kept in regular and con- 
tinuous operation. Sufficiency of motive power is every 
bit: as vital as is such power itself. 

The application of motive power must also be regu- 
lated. The steam engine, the gas motor, the electric 
motor must have a governor, a flywheel or some equiv- 
alent regulator. Without it there could be no control 
over the use of generated power; machinery would soon 
thrash itself to pieces, and there could be neither depend- 
ability nor utility in any mechanism operated by motive 
power. 

Just as the realm of nature is a great reservoir of 
power-generating forces and materials, which man can, 
upon discovery, harness to machinery for divers useful 
purposes; so is man, himself, a great source or reservoir 
of power and generating force, which he can apply to the 
problems of life. No man can be a success who does not 
make a liberal use of his own power. 

The exercise of a man's power or capacities must be 



54 PLYING THE TOOLS OF SALES-CRAFT 

regulated. There must be some well-laid plan, which 
controls his activities. This plan is the governor or fly- 
wheel which enables him to direct his energies toward 
the desired goal. Unless a man utilizes his motive power 
he never will get anywhere. He might as well not have 
such power. Without a careful plan no man can get 
very far, however active he may be in the use of his 
power. Like the engine without a governor or a fly- 
wheel, he will merely thrash himself out. 

Power must exist in the first place; it must be applied 
in the second place, and it must be controlled and 
directed in the third place. These constitute the mystic 
triangle of success. 

The life insurance salesman is no exception to the 
general rule. His ability, both natural and acquired, 
constitutes his motive power. If he loafs in the evening, 
he will soon loaf in the morning. Not long after he 
will loaf in the afternoon. The one day loafer naturally 
becomes the seven day loafer. His backbone soon be- 
comes a wish-bone and his motor-plant rusts out even 
before he is aware of it. 

On the other hand he may be very active. He may 
canvass all the physically unfit, all those who have poor 
family history, all those engaged in prohibited occupa- 
tions. He may give up too soon or he may hang on too 
long. He may try all the wrong ways and never the 
right way unless it be by chance. He has no well-laid 
plan. His work is not intelligently controlled and 
directed. He thrashes himself out and meets bitter dis- 
appointment where he had fondly expected success. 

A well-laid plan, intelligent method, is just as vital to 
success in life insurance salesmanship, as is unflagging 
industry. Complete the mystic triangle and success will 
follow as a matter of course. 



PLYING THE TOOLS OF SALES-CKAFT 55 

Job No. 8 — Avoid Moodiness 

There are many moody people in the world. They like 
to work only when they are in the proper mood. If they 
wake up with a dark brown taste in the mouth, it is an 
off day for them. If they feel the touch of a slight head- 
ache, they throw work into the discard. If the heat 
bores into them, their ambition to work withers away. 

Now moods grow by what they feed upon. The 
slightest encouragement prolongs them and multiplies 
their recurrence. Following one's moods leads im- 
mediately to spasmodic work and ultimately to pro- 
tracted idleness. The back-bone turns to a wish-bone, 
courage degenerates into futile hope and the will to work 
atrophies. What would you think of a merchant who 
would open his store at 6 o'clock one morning, at 8 
o'clock another or at 11 o'clock another, just as the 
mood would strike him? Would he build up an ever- 
increasing business or would he lose most of the cus- 
tom that he already had? Even a child can answer this 
question. 

Among this class of people are many life insurance 
salesmen. During the twenty years that we have been 
in this business we have seen a large number of such 
workers pass down the line. There never was any 
pleasure for us in watching this procession. We like to 
see men make good. We like to help them make good. 
But all the outside assistance in the world will not help 
the man who kills his own engine, i. e., his internal driv- 
ing power. 

A man's greatest pleasure should be found in his work. 
Successful men are always "crazy" to get back from 
their vacations to their work. Why? Because in their 
work their greatest pleasure lies. Work is not drudgery 



56 PLYING THE TOOLS OF SALES-CKAFT 

to them. If any man regards his work as drudgery he 
is either operating in the wrong field or he has failed to 
get the proper angle at his job. Why are some men 
gluttons for work? Why are others drudges in their 
work? There is just one answer, i. e., a different point of 
view. The one usually succeeds while the other nearly 
always fails. The world takes hold with the one, boosts 
him, pushes for him, pulls for him, praises him and goes 
"over the top" with him. But the world looks askance 
at the other and passes him by. (See note on page 98.) 
The moody salesman is sorely afflicted. His moods 
are a cancerous growth upon his vital will to do and 
achieve. Cancerous growths destroy plant life, animal 
life and mental vigor unless they be successfully re- 
moved. The remedy for moods is work and more work 
until work becomes a paramount pleasure. If you are 
unfortunate enough to be afflicted with moods, may you 
be courageous enough to apply the remedy and thereby 
effect your own cure. 

Job No. 9 — Keep a Record 

The most successful salesman in any line is the man 
who makes the best use of his time. In salesmanship it 
can be truly said "time means money." Wasted time 
means "money lost." Time improperly employed means 
"some money lost." A salesman should employ his time 
according to some well defined method, some clearly 
outlined system worked out in his own experience. 

As a life insurance salesman you must, first of all, 
make calls or get interviews. Sometimes these are made 
on the spur of the moment; at other times they are made 
by appointment. 

Every salesman should plan to make a given number 
of calls each day. One worker may set his mark at 3 



PLYING THE TOOLS OF SALES-CRAFT 57 

calls a day; another at 5; a third at 7, and a fourth at 
10. Whatever the number may be, the worker should 
keep a daily record in a little book for that purpose. In 
this way the worker can see whether he is running ahead 
or falling behind the mark he has set for himself. If 
he is running ahead, the evidence indicates that he is im- 
proving as a salesman. If he is running behind, appear- 
ances would suggest that he is deteriorating in salesman- 
ship. His own record tells the story and ought to spur 
him on to greater effort. 

Calls or interviews are preliminary to selling or 
placing policies of insurance. On the average the quality 
of the canvass made by the worker will determine the 
number of policies placed. Some salesmen will average 
one policy to every ten calls. Others will average one 
policy to every seven calls. Still others will average 
one policy to every five calls. A few will average one 
policy to every three calls. Much depends upon the 
kind of canvass made. Keep a record of your canvasses 
as well as of your calls. Make a test of different styles 
of canvassing. Your record will show you what styles 
of canvass are best not only in a general way, but also 
for particular classes of people and for individuals of dif- 
ferent temperaments and varying conditions in life. 
Many a poor business proposition is sold and stays sold 
because it is well presented by the salesman. Many a 
good proposition fails to be sold because the salesman 
presents it poorly. Every good salesman keeps a record 
of his work. With this record he checks up on himself. 
If he has wasted any time, he sees where it has been 
wasted and he cuts out the waste. If he uses an inferior 
method of presentation, he discovers it and eliminates it 
from his work. He constantly improves as a salesman. 



58 PLYING THE TOOLS OF SALES-CRAFT 

Improved salesmanship means larger results and such 
results mean more money. 

Suppose you make ten calls per day and average one 
policy to every ten calls. This is one policy for each of 
26 working days in the month. If you get $8 for each 
policy, you will make $208 per month. This is more than 
the average manual laborer, clerk, bookkeeper or stenog- 
rapher makes. Suppose you improve until you average 
one policy to every five calls. Ten calls per day would 
mean 52 policies in a month. At $8 per policy this would 
net you $416 per month. Many workers in the life 
insurance field are doing as well as this. With a larger 
commission on each policy the income is greater. You 
can equal or exceed the earnings herein mentioned. 

In your present work do you make a certain minimum 
number of calls each day? If you do not do this, start 
to do it now. You will be amazed at the result. Are you 
employing the best method of canvassing in your work? 
If you are not, or if you are not sure, then strive to im- 
prove your methods. Again you will be startled at the 
results. 

Do you keep a daily record of your calls and can- 
vasses? If you do not, begin at once. Every highly suc- 
cessful salesman keeps such a record. In nearly every 
case the lessons he learns from his own record make 
him highly successful. Without such a record you do 
not know how much time you waste that could be con- 
verted into coin of the realm. Without such a record 
you may never discover the weak spots in your method 
of canvassing your prospects. Unless you see these 
weak spots you cannot eliminate them and their elim- 
ination means more money for you. Without such a 
record you will never fully develop your ability as a life 



PLYING THE TOOLS OF SALES-CRAFT 59 

insurance salesman. You owe it to yourself to develop 
to your full capacity. 

Job No. 10 — The Theory of Averages 

The theory of probabilities constitutes an important 
branch of mathematics. By its use the practical and 
reliable tables for insurance have been determined. 

In the ordinary business world we speak of this theory 
as the doctrine of averages. Now, as a salesman, you 
are seriously interested in this doctrine of \averages. If 
your average application nets you ten dollars, you are 
vitally concerned as to the number of applications. A 
certain number is necessary that you may earn a bare 
living. This number may properly be called your min- 
imum. If you fall below this minimum you must seek 
other fields of employment; if you rise above it, your 
outlook brightens and your prospects increase propor- 
tionately. 

Interviews are essential to secure applications. There 
is a relation of average between interviews and appli- 
cations. An average of one application to twenty in- 
terviews means an enormous amount of hard work and a 
minimum of results. Ten applications a month on this 
basis means two hundred interviews. This number of in- 
terviews per month is almost a physical impossibility. 
One application to ten interviews means much less work 
and double the results. One application out of five in- 
terviews constitutes a splendid working average. In the 
case of insurance salesmen, who are star performers, an 
average of one application out of every two and one- 
half or three interviews is attained. Such salesmen 
make big money. 

The only way you can know your average is to keep 
a record. The surest way to improve your average is to 



60 PLYING THE TOOLS OF SALES-CHAFT 

know what your record is. Knowing your record you 
are almost certain to exceed it. Past achievements be- 
come spurs to greater efforts, to improved methods and 
to a higher average. Results are the product of effi- 
ciency and efficiency is developed by the employment of 
intelligent system. By all means keep a record. It will 
pay you large dividends. 

Job No. 11 — Time Is Money 

Some wise old head once said, "Time is money." This 
saying might be further amplified by saying that time 
well employed is "money made," and time frittered away 
or poorly employed is "money lost." 

In insurance work we can call ten hours a fair day's 
work. On the basis of twenty-six working days per 
month this gives two hundred and sixty working hours 
to the month. If your compensation amounts to $200 
per month, this would mean that every working hour 
averages 77 cents. If you are on a salary basis every 
working hour lost or wasted means a loss of 77 cents to 
your society. If you are on a commission basis, a work- 
ing hour lost or wasted means a 77-cent loss to you. 
If you are on a part salary and part commission basis, a 
working hour lost or wasted means a 77-cent loss, to be 
borne partly by you and partly by your society. 

Time can be wasted in numerous ways. A man can 
oversleep; he can overeat; he can play pool, or billiards, 
or cards; he can loiter around a bar-room or a hotel 
lobby; he can walk the streets; he can go to ball 
games; he can find a score of ways to spend his time 
without making even a pretense at working. On the 
other hand he can persuade himself that he is working 
hard when in reality he is wasting time. For instance, 
he can approach prospects in an ungracious or offensive 



PLYING THE TOOLS OF SALES-CRAFT 61 

manner; he can canvass his prospects in a way that will 
absolutely drive them away; he can spend too much 
time with a prospect before rinding out whether that 
prospect is insurable or uninsurable; he can timidly 
under-canvass or stubbornly over-canvass a prospect; in 
many ways he can make use of a wrong method, an in- 
appropriate illustrati®n, or an untimely appeal. Time 
must be "well spent," else it is largely wasted and 
means "money lost." 

No salesman can hope to get 77 cents an hour for any 
great length of time if he really belongs in the 10-cent 
or 20-cent or 30-cent an hour class. The results secured 
show to what class a worker belongs. One man is ambi- 
tious, works hard, improves his methods and rises to a 
higher class, while another is careless and lazy and 
backslides into a lower class. The score sheet in the 
Home Office tells the whole story. A salesman's rank 
can be determined with approximate accuracy. 

Your time is at your disposal. Whether it means 
"money made" or "money lost" depends upon the use 
you make of it. 

Job No. 12 — Evening Work 

A few years ago a live representative kept track of the 
result of his work of evenings. He found that he aver- 
aged $10 for each evening that he worked. Sometime 
later several insurance men tested their work of even- 
ings. They worked three evenings a week most of the 
time. On the average each two evenings they worked 
netted them one application. Their average earnings 
were more than $9 for each evening's work, or close to 
$1,400 additional income for the year. 

If you do a real day's work every day, it will not be 
advisable for you to work more than one or two even- 



62 PLYING THE TOOLS OF, SALES-CRAFT 

ings each week. No worker should ever work at such a 
fast pace that he will be overtaxed. There are, however, 
so few cases of overwork that this advice is almost super- 
fluous. It is the slow pace that kills most fieldworkers, 
not the fast pace; at least not in the line of work. 

The insurance salesman, who does not make a living 
by daytime work, must do some evening work. Other 
insurance salesmen can do evening work as a matter of 
choice. It is extremely doubtful if there ever was a 
successful salesman who did all of his work in daytime. 
In any event evening work means more money. Two 
evenings a week ought to mean about $75 a month. 
Three evenings a week should bring $112.50, which 
ought to be and usually is a welcome addition to the 
income of the hustling salesman. 

It is not easy to work of evenings. For that matter 
it is not much easier to work in daytime. The insurance 
salesman must have great self-driving power. For the 
most part he is away from all close supervision. He 
must be his own supervisor. If he fails to supervise his 
own work properly, his driving power diminishes. He 
not only will not work evenings but he will not really 
work days. The end in such a case is inevitable. Such a 
worker is a misfit in the insurance field. He must find 
employment under the direct supervision of someone 
who will supply the requisite driving power. 

Job No. 13 — A Parable in Salesmanship 

In 1909 two young men, John and Joseph, started to 
write business for an adequate rate fraternal society. 
Both were hustlers and both have always written a full 
dollar's worth of business for a dollar's pay. Whether 
these men were named after relatives, friends, famous 
men or the old Biblical characters we are uninformed. 



PLYING THE TOOLS OP SALES-CRAFT 63 

It is certain, however, that — like those old Bible char- 
acters — they have been diligent about their employer's 
business. 

These men were wise in their choice of an employer. 
They looked far forward into the future. They planned 
by their work to lay a foundation upon which they could 
build as long as they lived. They knew that no rate 
readjustment would take place in the future, which re- 
adjustment would tear down their work of years and 
blow up their very foundation. Few salesmen ever 
showed better judgment in this respect. 

Both these men live well. Both have bank accounts. 
Both drive their own automobiles. Both are highly 
respected by all who know them. But Joe has the larger 
bank account, owns a better home and pulls down larger 
commissions every month. 

There is a noticeable difference between the degrees of 
success of these two successful salesmen. Joe is the 
greater success. Why? Because he works harder. 
Simple, isn't it? Well, is it so simple after all? John is 
diligent and persistent. He works till five o'clock every 
day. He usually lands some business but now and then 
he has an off-day. He doesn't like these off-days but he 
considers them unavoidable. On the other hand Joe 
won't accept an off-day. He may not land any business 
before five o'clock some days. Then is when he shows 
at his best. He declares he won't go home till he gets a 
name on the dotted line. Sometimes he is out quite late 
and sometimes he almost runs the wheels off of his 
flivver, but he never fails to land. These off-day spurts 
mark the difference between Joe and John. These spurts 
account for Joe's larger bank account, better home and 
bigger commissions. 



64 PITTING THE TOOLS OF SALES-CRAFT 

There is much food for reflection in the careers of 
these men. We commend them to you for your serious 
consideration. 

Job No. 14 — Don't Be a Lemon Picker 

You are intensely interested in the matter of pros- 
pects. Good prospects are the salt of the earth in your 
business. They are the only ones that you can really 
afford to canvass. 

Other things being equal, that salesman is most suc- 
cessful who eliminates to the greatest extent the poor 
prospect. This is a general rule of all salesmanship. 
Any salesman wastes his time, burns up his energy, 
diminishes his moral courage, is out his expense money, 
and loses his commission in canvassing a poor prospect. 

In your work a person who cannot pass a medical 
examination is a poor prospect. Any man or woman, 
who cannot be elected to membership in the local lodge, 
is a poor prospect. One who is outside the admissible 
age limit is a poor prospect. One who is engaged in a 
prohibited occupation is a poor prospect. A person who 
cannot pay the necessary premiums is a poor prospect. 
Any one who will not take life insurance under any 
circumstances is a poor prospect. Here are six general 
classes of poor prospects and there may be others. It 
behooves you to pass by all such prospects, because they 
are lemons in the garden of life insurance. 

You will readily admit the general rule but you may 
inquire "how can one distinguish the lemons?" Well, 
you can't do it by any hard and fast rule. It is not a 
problem in mathematics. If it were, it could be easily 
solved and as a result the world would be flooded with 
top-notch salesmen. 



PLYING THE TOOLS OF SALES-CRAFT 65 

The problem is one of method. In a general way we 
would say that the best way to eliminate poor prospects 
is to pick out only the probably good ones. There are 
several ways of doing this. 

One plan is to start with the directory. Every city, 
town, village and rural community has at least a tele- 
phone directory. Make out a list of names in some 
locality. Then approach someone in that locality who 
appears to be intelligent and well informed. Inquire 
about the various names on your list. If the first person 
approached cannot give you sufficient information, try 
another; and, if necessary, try a third. You will be sur- 
prised at the amount of information you will get, that 
will be helpful to you. You will strike some names off 
your list at once. Your informant may give you other 
names, which you will put upon your list. You can work 
every locality in a community, however large, and when 
you finish, you will have made a thorough canvass. It 
will be surprising, if you fail to secure a good volume of 
good business. 

The information furnished you will usually be given in 
confidence and should be treated strictly as such. 
Always remember that the only way to gain confidence 
and to keep it is to deserve it. 

Job No. 15 — Sources of Prospects 

In our previous chat we stated that, as a general rule 
in your work, it is necessary to eliminate poor prospects. 
We also pointed out that the best way to do this is to 
look up and canvass only the good ones. We indicated 
one way to locate good prospects. Now we wish to 
suggest four more ways. 

1. Every time you interview a prospect ask for a list 
of men and women of his acquaintance. As a rule people 



66 PLYING THE TOOLS OF SALES-CRAFT 

have a very erroneous idea as to what constitutes a 
prospect. For this reason it is difficult to get good pros- 
pects in this way. But you can ask questions and make 
suggestions. Every prospect you canvass can give you 
a number of other good prospects. It is up to you to use 
your knowledge, wit and ingenuity to get the list. Others 
have used this plan successfully in their life insurance 
work and so can you. 

2. Where you are acquainted in a community you can 
ask each of a number of friends to give you half a dozen 
names of men and women, who can pass a medical 
examination and pay for insurance. Of course, you must 
not embarrass and anger your friends by using their 
names. In this way you can get a choice list of likely 
prospects. In an ordinary, haphazard canvass you might 
call upon five or six times the number of persons upon 
your list before you would reach your real prospects. 
Your own friends and acquaintances are usually poor 
prospects but they are quite willing to help you in this 
way. Salesmen who have tried this method, have 
found it very satisfactory. 

3. Another method is to utilize the service of your 
local medical examiner. With very good grace he can 
ask an applicant for a list of names at the time of the 
examination. It goes without saying that this plan can 
be used only when your local examiner is enthusiastic 
over your plan of insurance and favorable to you person- 
ally. The local examiner must be tactful and must 
assure the applicant that his name will not be used in 
the subsequent canvass. This method has been known 
to produce some remarkably good results. 

4. Last of all remember that every present member 
is a good prospect for increased insurance. Every 



PLYING THE TOOLS OF SALES-CRAFT 67 

member you write ought to be open for more insurance 
at some future time. 

Most societies write up to $5000 on one person. Less 
than one per cent of the members carry the maximum 
amount of protection. It ought to be easier to write a 
member for increased insurance than it is to secure a 
new member. Try it and be convinced. It will mean 
more commissions to you. That is what you want. It 
will mean more business for your society and that is 
what it wants. 

Get off on your right foot in every campaign. Elimi- 
nate the poor prospects but don't overlook any of the 
good ones. 

Job No. 16 — The Interview 

After eliminating from your list the people, who — for 
some reason — are poor prospects, you are left face to 
face with the proposition of approaching, interviewing 
and "getting on the dotted line" the desirable and avail- 
able prospects. 

The manner of your approach is important. A poor 
approach may defeat you. If the prospect is forced to 
make some unpleasant mental observation about your 
manner or appearance, you are beaten before you start. 
Here are a few such mental observations: "He didn't 
clean his muddy feet before he came into the office (or 
house.)" "He looks dirty." "He smells of liquor." "He 
has a stinking cigar (or pipe) in his mouth." "He is too 
dudish." "He seems too fresh." "He acts as if I don't 
know my business." Many a dotted line has gone vacant 
because of some such mental observation. 

The interview is the "battle-royal," which nets you your 
results. It should not be too short because it requires 
some time for your prospect to grasp the force and mean- 



68 PLYING THE TOOLS OF SALES-CRAFT 

ing of your statements and argument. The last five 
minutes of the interview usually determines the issue for 
you. You should make sure that your prospect follows 
your talk and keeps right up with you. If you keep 
ahead of him by going too fast you weaken your chances 
of closing him. On the other hand you should not loiter 
on the way. If it takes you several hours to write a 
prospect, who could have been closed in forty minutes, 
you are wasting your time. Again, if you take too long 
a time your prospect may conclude that you don't know 
your business, in which case you are almost sure to lose 
him. 

Eight successful men of one life insurance company 
kept close tab on their work for three months. They 
discovered that the average length of their interviews 
was forty-six minutes. Seven men of another company 
kept a record of their work for a year. They found that 
the average interview, which landed the business, was 
forty minutes long. In both tests it was made plain that 
the men who had the longest average interview, wrote 
the most business. These tests would clearly indicate 
that your interviews should average somewhere between 
forty and forty-five minutes. We recommend that you 
keep your own record and test your own experience. It 
will pay in more ways than one. 

Job No. 17 — Personalize Your Proposition 

There are many ways of getting interviews with pros- 
pects. The tactful salesman can soon discern whether 
the occasion is favorable for an interview. If conditions 
are not propitious a masterful retreat is far better than 
a blundering attack. One leaves the way open for a 
successful return; the other will likely close the way to 
you forever. 



PLYING THE TOOLS OF SALES-CRAFT 69 

Many salesmen fail from lack of forcible information 
rather than of tact. An indulgence in moral platitudes 
about duty cannot be effectively substituted for vitalized 
information. Such lectures usually tire the prospect. 
This prosaic method of canvassing prospects will in- 
variably reduce your batting average. 

Tell your prospect something that he doesn't already 
know. He doesn't know that seven-eights of all property 
left by American people at death is life insurance money. 
He doesn't know that only seven percent of the actual 
financial value of human lives in this country is covered 
by life insurance. The other ninety-three percent is a 
total loss. He doesn't know that nine out of every ten 
persons who die in this country leave no estate at all. 
He is not aware of the fact that the average estate, even 
when one is left, becomes dissipated in from seven to nine 
years. 

There is other information in abundance. Only one 
person in twenty provides for old age or for the family. 
8,000,000 women work for a living in this country. One- 
third of the widows in the United States are in dire 
poverty, while nine-tenths of them do not have the 
ordinary comforts of life. Nine out of ten children, who 
start to school at age six, have to go to work before 
they complete the eighth grade. 

Instead of being the ripening period of life, old age 
is usually a decaying period. More than ninety per cent 
of men who have been engaged in active business are 
not self-supporting in their old age. More than half the 
men at age twenty-five today will be entirely dependent 
on some one else at age sixty-five. Fourteen men out of 
every seventeen who reach age sixty-five haven't a dollar 
to their name. 



70 PLYING THE TOOLS OF SALES-CHAFT 

Such facts as these go through the thickest hide. They 
arouse and alarm the most supine mind. You point down 
through the long line of future years and show your 
prospect the rocky road that he or she will most likely 
have to travel. You make your proposition personal to 
him. His duty to wife, children or other dependents 
may not strike him so forcibly; but when you show him 
that life insurance is the only sure means of escape for 
him, you have touched his most vital spot and you have 
brought him very close to the dotted line. 

In some cases it will be necessary for you to apprise 
a prospect of the substantial nature of life insurance. 
Many people have the idea that life insurance is little 
more than a gambling proposition. Nothing is further 
from the real truth. 

Proper life insurance premiums are carefully and ac- 
curately calculated upon the human death rate. This death 
rate is governed, controlled and determined by the law of 
Mortality. This law is just as much a Natural law as 
is the law of Gravity. The operation of both these natural 
laws can be determined through mathematics even to the 
smallest fraction. Beyond any doubt whatever, we can 
tell exactly how many people of a given age will die 
during the first year and each succeeding year until the 
entire group is dead and gone. An adequate rate frater- 
nal society is one of the most accurately designed and 
carefully conducted business concerns ever established 
by human ingenuity. An automobile factory which has 
standardized its parts to such an extent that they do not 
vary more than the one-thousandth part of an inch has no 
edge at all upon a correctly established and well con- 
ducted fraternal society. 

Tell your prospects these facts. Touch their lives 



PLYING THE TOOLS OF SALES-CRAFT 71 

at the most vital and vulnerable spot. You will be agree- 
ably surprised at your increased volume of business. 

Job No. 18— Proper Time for Your "Big Push" 

We come now to consider another practical feature 
of your work. It is of great importance to you to know 
at what stage of your canvass you may expect to get your 
prospect's name on the dotted line. 

During one whole year seven life insurance men kept 
close tab upon their work. They kept a written record 
just as every successful salesman should and does do. 
These men discovered that six (6) out of every ten (10) 
applications written by them were secured at the first 
interview; that two (2) applications out of every ten 
(10) written were secured at the second interview,, and 
that the remaining two (2) out of every ten (10) appli- 
cations written were secured at the third and subsequent 
interviews. Other tests have been made but a close or 
accurate record of them has not been kept. However, 
such other tests indicate very strongly the correctness 
of the above conclusions. 

This particular test was worked out in a very recent 
year. It discloses some startling facts. You have six 
(6) chances out of ten (10) to close your prospect at 
your first interview. You have only four (4) chances 
out of ten (10) to close him at your second interview, 
and you have only two (2) chances in ten (10) of closing 
him after your second interview. Your percentage of 
opportunity for success, therefore, stands as follows: 
First interview, 60 per cent; second interview, 40 per 
cent, and subsequent interviews, 20 per cent. If your 
percentages run below these you are not doing the 
best work of which you are capable. 



72 PLYING THE TOOLS OF SALES-CRAFT 

An analysis of the above facts indicates that a suc- 
cessful life insurance salesman should very rarely make 
more than two calls upon a prospect. He can write 
more business, hence make more money, by canvassing 
new prospects than he can by making third, fourth and 
fifth calls upon a prospect already thoroughly can- 
vassed. Such a prospect may be good for next year, 
but that is a deferred story. 

Plainly the time for your "big push" is during the 
first interview. Then it is that you should present your 
proposition fully, carefully and effectively. The plain, 
practical and sensible rule to follow is this: "If at first 
you don't succeed, try a second time; if the second time 
you fail, then try a new prospect." 

Job No. 19 — Favorable Conditions for Interview 

One of the most important features of your work is 
to know when to make your "big drive" to close an ap- 
plicant. 

We pointed out in our preceding chat that you have 
a 60 per cent chance at the first interview, 40 per cent 
at the second and 20 per cent at the third and subse- 
quent interviews. Evidently the choice of all times 
should be the first interview. 

The question naturally arises, when should the first 
interview occur. Surely not when the prospect's mind 
is fully taken up with something that demands urgent 
and immediate attention. Just as certainly it should not 
be when the prospect is agitated, uneasy or worried over 
some matter. Under such circumstances you cannot get 
your prospect to center his attention upon your propo- 
sition. Without his undivided attention you are sure 
to lose him, for he won't sign up just to get rid of you. 



PLYING THE TOOLS OF SALES-CRAFT 73 

To be fair to yourself you should choose a more oppor- 
tune time. 

It is always best to have your applicant alone. At 
least be sure to have no one present who cannot give 
a sympathetic ear to your efforts. Disinterested persons 
grow restless; they interject impertinent remarks and 
drag in irrelevant subjects; frequently they very kindly 
warn your prospect to be wary and to make haste 
slowly, and sometimes they openly advise against your 
proposition or suggest what they — according to their 
half-baked notions — think is a better one. It is impos- 
sible for you to secure a favorable result under such cir- 
cumstances. The bleachers don't write life insurance 
any more than they win baseball games. 

Some salesmen are much in favor of making appoint- 
ments for interviews with prospects. As a general rule, 
this is poor policy. The most successful life insurance 
salesmen find in actual experience that more than 60 
per cent of their business is secured without appoint- 
ment, whereas less than 40 per cent is procured at in- 
terviews had by appointment. Results afford the acid 
test. The experience of successful men ought to teach 
you valuable lessons. If it doesn't, you ought to get 
into some other line of business. 

When you make an appointment you place yourself 
at a disadvantage. The prospect knows your business, 
hence must know the object of your appointment. He 
will talk it over with his wife, business associates or 
friends; she will discuss it with her husband or her 
friends. Coal, gasoline, clothing and food are high in 
price but they must be had. They play havoc with sal- 
ary wages, income and savings. Ten to one your pros- 
pect reviews the situation and decides against you long 
before you enter his presence. Practically speaking, you 



74 PLYING THE TOOLS OF SALES-CRAFT 

are licked before you begin to fight. The tendency of 
men and women is to adhere to a decision, when it is 
once made, even though convinced that they are wrong. 
It is a serious mistake to give your prospect an oppor- 
tunity to reach an adverse conclusion before you get 
started. It is almost as fatal as it is to give him a chance 
to say "no" before your canvass is finished. It may 
not always be true but, as a general rule, an appoint- 
ment for an interview renders your task doubly hard, if 
not impossible. 

Job No. 20 — -Number of Daily Interviews 

In the previous chat we discussed the circumstances 
and surroundings under which you should have your in- 
terview. Now we wish to consider the number of inter- 
views you should have per day. 

It is an easy matter to have five or six interviews in 
one day. It is, however, next to impossible to secure 
a daily average of five or six interviews. If you have 
an unusual number of interviews one day, it is also easy 
to spend the next day delivering policies, writing let- 
ters or doing something else that prevents you from 
having interviews. Because of this very fact you must 
supervise your work most rigidly. You must drive your- 
self. If you can't make yourself do a good day's work 
every day, your chances for success in this field are very, 
very slim. 

By interviews we mean the real thing, not camou- 
flage. Forty to forty-five minutes spent in carefully ex- 
plaining your proposition constitutes an interview. 
Merely asking a person if he isn't ready to take a policy, 
or telling him that he ought to take one, or making a 
few opportune remarks about your proposition is not 
an interview. Whatever you do, don't deceive yourself. 



PLYING THE TOOLS OF SALES-CRAFT 75 

It is your own time that you waste; it is your own 
money that you lose, and it is your own success that 
you endanger. Audit your own work and see that waste 
of time is eliminated. 

Actual tests made by ten men over a period of six 
months demonstrated that an average of two and one- 
half interviews per day were required for the men to be 
successful. Ten other men who, in the same test, aver- 
aged from two to two and one-fourth interviews per day 
failed. The margin between success and failure is not 
great. In other lines we can see striking illustrations 
of this fact almost daily. The life insurance salesman 
who does not — either because he cannot or will not — 
average three or more real interviews daily, is doomed 
to failure in this work. 

You are in the race for business. You set your own 
mark. Make every day and every week furnish its 
quota of business. Then the months and the years will 
take care of themselves. Always strive to exceed the 
figures that you set. 

Job No. 21— Your "Lay-Out" 

Your common sense tells you that you must "get at" 
your prospect before you can land the application. Your 
success in this respect determines the size of your in- 
come. 

Did you ever observe the methods of a street fakir 
or of a confidence man? They always have a "lay-out" 
that catches the interested attention of their prospec- 
tive victims. They devote much time, sometimes great 
expense, to their "lay-out." Every thought, every act 
is concentrated upon their one purpose. This js the rea- 
son that they so often succeed in "putting over" their 
nefarious schemes. 



76 PLYING THE TOOLS OF SALES-CRAFT 

No one can uphold men in fraudulent practices, but 
frequently we can but admire their nerve, their shrewd- 
ness and their ingenuity. There is a science of the 
human mind. The professional crook masters this sci- 
ence in so far as it applies to his particular scheme. He 
works his plans out to the nth degree. The results of 
his work startle us and sometimes embarrass us finan- 
cially. The fakir and the confidence man apply good 
methods to an unworthy end. This is but another strik- 
ing illustration of the fact that every good thing in the 
world is susceptible to abuse and gross misuse. 

You are engaged in a highly honorable business. You 
are not a blue-sky merchant. You sell life insurance. 
Because it is a contractual relation and not a material 
object, which can be attractively displayed to the eye, 
ear or other physical sense, you must make your appeal 
to the emotions and to the reason of your prospect. 
You must master the science of the human mind in its 
relation to life insurance. You must be courageous, 
shrewd and diligent. You must work your plans out to 
the nth degree. Every word, every act must be concen- 
trated upon your one main purpose. If you follow this 
method your success may astonish those who do not 
understand, but it will be no mystery to you. You will 
merely be reaping where you have sowed. And verily, 
your harvest will be abundant. 

Job No. 22— Avoid Fatal Mistakes 

Every successful salesman has his own individual or 
characteristic way of approaching a prospect. Some 
have a better way than others. Results prove this to be 
true and satisfactory results are always undeniable proof. 

But every one makes a mistake occasionally. We 
know a splendid salesman who once suggested to a pros- 



PLYING THE TOOLS OF SALES-CRAFT 77 

pect that he take a $500 policy. Now this prospect, it so 
happened, had made up his mind that he wanted either 
$3,000 or $5,000 of insurance. The salesman's suggestion 
of $500 not only did not appeal to the prospect but it 
wounded his pride. The wrong suggestion lost that 
prospect to that salesman for all time. Prospects feel 
flattered if too large an amount is suggested to them, but 
they will never forgive the suggestion of a diminutive 
amount. This merely demonstrates that it is always 
easier to come down than it is to go up. 

We know of another good salesman who tried the story 
method. He told a rattling good story to a prospect, 
who laughed himself almost sick over it. Then the pros- 
pect told a story. One story brought another until the 
chance to talk insurance was gone for that time and for 
every future time. The prospect was always glad to see 
this salesman and to swap stories with him, but at no 
time could he be induced to talk life insurance. He bought 
his insurance from someone else, who did not indulge his 
story telling proclivities. 

Neither of these good salesmen ever made the same 
mistake again. One lesson cured them and the cure was 
permanent. They may make other mistakes, for most 
of us make mistakes as long as we live. There is usually 
no grievous injury wrought in the making of a single 
mistake; but it is a serious thing to respond to encores. 
Making a mistake once is unfortunate but excusable, but 
making the same mistake a second time is deplorable and 
unpardonable. No good salesman ever permits himself to 
be a repeater when it comes to the making of mistakes. 

Job No. 23 — "Cashing-In" on a Hobby 

There are many ways in which you can ingratiate your- 
self with worth-while prospects. 



78 PLYING THE TOOLS OF SALES-CBAFT 

By the exercise of a little tact it is easy to discover 
any person's hobby. Now, everybody has some hobby 
and every hobby offers an avenue for graceful approach. 
A lawyer usually enjoys a good story which strikingly 
illustrates a legal point. A physician generally appre- 
ciates a story that exemplifies the foibles of patients. The 
stock-grower likes animal stories and helpful hints. The 
horticulturist appreciates suggestions for modifying or 
improving plants. In every one of us resides a spirit of 
humor, a sympathy for others, a desire for helpful sug- 
gestions, etc. 

Stories, suggestions, illustrations clipped from news- 
papers, magazines or journals may be advantageously 
employed. The subject matter may be reduced to writ- 
ing in an informal way, as by the use of a pencil and a 
very ordinary piece of paper. The approach must be as 
simple as it is delicate. There must not be the slightest 
hint that you are laying the foundation for a subsequent 
canvass. Such a hint would redound to your injury in- 
stead of to your credit. Such matters as these must not 
be done in a formal or bunglesome way. 

The immediate effect of such an act is to raise you in 
the estimation of the recipient. He thinks of you as an 
agreeable human being, an entertaining and interesting 
companion, rather than as an unwelcome and detestable 
life insurance salesman. By and by the time will come 
when you will have a good opportunity for a hearing. 
You won't have to bulldoze your way through an outer 
office. You will not be under the necessity of breaking 
through the front door of his home. You will start with 
a cheerful welcome and a hearty handshake. It will be 
remarkable if you fail to bring home the bacon. 

This is just a concrete way of saying that little things 
count in life. Time, that would be otherwise wasted or 



PLYING THE TOOLS OF SALES-CRAFT 79 

less profitably used, can be turned to good account. The 
salesman who has the highest regard for the little things 
in life is the one who unlocks the golden door to success. 
Try it and you will not be disappointed. 

Job No. 24— Head Work and Elbow Grease 

It may be of interest to you to know how one live 
salesman made a "killing." 

One day early in July he had a man drive him in a 
"flivver" out to the home of a farmer in a central western 
state. His object was to canvass this farmer for life 
insurance. When he arrived he found the farmer very 
much upset. The farmer was just starting to cut his 
wheat and two men, who were to help, had failed to 
show up. The salesman saw the situation in a moment. 
Turning to the farmer, he said: "Have you an old shirt 
and pair of trousers that will fit me?" The farmer ad- 
mitted that he had. Thereupon the salesman said: "Bring 
out your old clothes; here's where I camp." He sent the 
"flivver" home and worked a week for that farmer. 
When this farmer's wheat was cut he helped a neighbor- 
ing farmer, who was short of help. In all he helped out 
five farmers and worked four weeks in that neighborhood. 

Now comes the shrewd and unexpected feature of his 
plan. He refused to accept a cent of wages for his work. 
The farmers were dumbfounded. Then he let them know 
what he had to sell. Did he get an attentive hearing? 
He did. Did he make any sales? He did. Within a 
week's time he had sold over $100,000 of life insurance. 
It was insurance that will stay sold. Not a dollar of it 
will be lapsed. Not a single policy will fall victim to the 
wiles of the twister. These farmers are fast friends of 
this salesman, and they will hang onto their insurance 
till "the cows come home." 



SO PLYING THE TOOLS OF SALES-CRAFT 

This man surely employed headwork. He also used a 
plentiful amount of elbow grease. Both were converted 
into a remarkably good commission account. After all is 
said and done he didn't do anything that you cannot do. 
His identical plan can be successfully employed by any 
salesman who is neither a cripple nor an invalid. 

Job No. 25— Cultivate a Keen Scent 

A star salesman is never at a loss to know what to do 
nor when and where to do it. No fox-hound was ever 
keener on the trail than he for co-workers and business. 
That's what makes him a star. 

It's the mediocre man who fails. He wants others to 
strike the scent and lead the chase for business. Pros- 
pects must be rooted up and labeled for him. If they 
are hog-tied he is all the better pleased. Prospects abound 
in his vicinity but he sees them not. They pass him or 
he passes them. He salutes them or converses with them 
but no one has labeled them for him and he has no sharp- 
scenting nose for business. He looks far away instead 
of near at hand. He reminds one of the wayfaring trav- 
eler who left grassy slopes and wooded dells and entered 
the desert in a search for water. In a business sense he 
is sub-normal or sub-standard. That is the reason he 
fails. 

One of our local salesmen wrote little business. He 
went out and made collections for the local secretary. 
We sent another salesman into the town. He accom- 
panied the local salesman to half a dozen places — homes, 
offices and stores — to make collections. In the round 
they wrote seven applications for $10,000 of insurance. 
This was done in two days' time. The applicants were 
people whom the local salesman saw at least once a 
month. The thought that these people were prospects 



PLYING THE TOOLS OF SALES-CRAFT 81 

never entered his head. This occurred months ago. The 
local salesman has secured very little business since. 
The object lesson was wasted on him, for he is not a 
real salesman. 

Another salesman became acquainted with a business 
man in a town twenty-five miles away. He has met this 
man four different times by appointment. He has not 
yet secured the man's application. On his first trip to 
the neighboring town he wrote two other applicants for 
$4,000 of insurance. On his third trip he wrote two 
more for $6,000 of insurance, and on the fourth trip he 
wrote five more for $12,000 of insurance. This salesman 
says he will write every insurable person in that town, 
if the business man will only hold out long enough. This 
worker is a real salesman. He doesn't wait for some- 
thing to turn up. He goes out after business. Nobody 
gets by him without his knowing the reason why. To 
his way of thinking everybody is a prospect. He is right. 

You are acquainted with these two widely different 
kinds of salesmen. These classes mark the extremes. 
Between them are many gradations. Every salesman 
falls within one of these gradations. As you know men 
by their works, so you can judge life insurance salesmen 
by their results. 

Job No. 26— Forget Yourself 

One way of curing a balky mule is to dangle a bundle 
of oats in front of him. That animal thinks only of him- 
self when he balks. He also thinks of himself when he 
forgets his balk and goes after the oats. We can't greatly 
blame the mule, because he has his limitations. He is 
no humanitarian and is incapable of considering the 
rights and interests of others. 



82 PLYING THE TOOLS OF SALES-CRAFT 

A lot of people are closely akin to that mule. All, who 
grudgingly render service to others, show his balky traits. 
There is the mechanic who slights his work. There is 
the machinist who loafs when the boss isn't looking. 
There is the lawyer, who thinks only of his fee. Then 
there is the salesman, who thinks only of his commis- 
sion. All such people are shirkers. The services they 
render are deficient in quality or quantity, or both. They 
are two-legged brothers of the balky mule. 

Suppose you were unjustly accused of a serious crime 
and made the startling discovery that your lawyer was 
much more concerned in collecting his full fee than he 
was in securing your acquittal. You would dispense 
with his services in short order. Again, suppose you 
were sick and your physician displayed greater alacrity 
in collecting his fee than he did in diagnosing your case 
and in treating you. He wouldn't be your attending 
physician very long. Once more, suppose that you were 
a prospect for insurance, that an insurance salesman was 
crowding you to take a policy and that you could perceive 
he was thinking not of you and your needs, but of his 
commission. Your "no" could be heard around a city 
block. Under no circumstances do you want to transact 
vitally important business with a step-brother of the 
balky mule, even if he does walk on two legs. 

The salesman must forget himself and his commission 
when he is canvassing a prospect. His thoughts must 
seek a higher level. The welfare and interests of the 
prospect, of his dependents and of his business must 
occupy the whole stage. These are the considerations 
that give him concern and move him to action. No man 
who constantly keeps his commissions in mind will ever 
be a first-class life insurance salesman. 



PLYING THE TOOLS OF SALES-CRAFT 83 

Job No. 27 — Be Square 

Some time ago a salesman met a lady, 27 years of 
age, who had just taken a policy of $1,000 in a society 
upon which she paid 90 cents per month. She sincerely 
thought she had a 20 Pay Life Policy. The man who 
wrote her application told the salesman that she had a 
20 Pay Life. What she really had was a 20 Year Term 
Policy. 

Such misrepresentations have been made many, many 
times in years gone by, and we doubt if they are as 
infrequent as they should be today. There is something 
radically wrong with a man who will resort to such 
tactics. He isn't a salesman at all. He is simply a life 
insurance crook. His methods degrade the worthy cause 
which he falsely claims to represent. 

No society wants salesmen of that stripe. Men who 
will deceive applicants to their own hurt will also deceive 
the society they represent. Such men can't last in the 
insurance field. They may thrive for a time but in the 
end their own methods betray and destroy them. True 
merit is the only safe means to secure and retain public 
confidence. Every successful salesman has the con- 
fidence of the public and of his employers. Such con- 
fidence is the real basis of his success. Every salesman 
is his own demonstrator. By his works everybody finally 
judges him. 

Job No. 28— Be Courteous 

You have heard the time-worn expression "Getting 
away with it." This phrase means going through to 
success with whatever you undertake. This old saying 
aptly characterizes the successful insurance salesman. 

The right kind of a salesman alwa}'S gets information 
about a prospect before seeking an interview. The man 



84 PLYING THE TOOLS OF SALES-CRAFT 

or woman is young, middle-aged, or old; married or 
single; lives in peaceful or disturbed domestic relations; 
has children or not; is successful or otherwise in busi- 
ness; is in debt or out of debt. These, and many other 
items of information, indicate what course the insurance 
man should pursue in the presentation of his proposition. 

All prospects must be cautiously and judiciously ap- 
proached. Some people can be interested in life insur- 
ance only by approaching the subject in an indirect or 
round-about way. To approach such people directly 
spells disaster for your chances. Other people appre- 
ciate directness. The choice of the right method re- 
quires a delicate, cultivated sense of discernment on the 
part of the salesman. Experience, practice, educates 
the worker so that he can tell almost to a certainty 
which method of approach to employ. 

Many prospects will challenge you in your work. 
They will say they don't believe in life insurance; they 
will inform you that they don't need insurance or, at 
least, any more insurance; they may suggest that your 
proposition is too low in cost to be safe or too high to be 
attractive and desirable; they may insinuate or bluntly 
state that your society is inferior to one or more other 
institutions; in a word, you will find the whole scale of 
general and specific objections played to you time after 
time. 

You must be quick to discern whether an objection is 
made in the spirit of challenge or as the ordinary state- 
ment of belief. Different answers must be employed 
in the two situations, but in either case your answer 
must be effective. You must be master at all stages of 
the game. 

In every case you must be courteous. Next to money 
or property courtesy is the greatest business asset you 



PLYING THE TOOLS OF SALES-CRAFT 85 

can have. Sometimes you may need to be brusque and 
firm, but never enter into a heated discussion with a 
prospect. If you would lead and finally control your 
prospect you must at all times have common sense 
control over yourself. Be courteous, follow the straight 
road and keep to the right, keep up a steady gait — 
neither speeding nor lagging — and you will be right up 
among the top-notchers nearly every month. 

Job No. 29 — Be Sagacious 

Not long ago a salesman ran across a man who said 
he could not take any life insurance because he could not 
afford it. The salesman looked around the room in the 
man's home. He saw a Victrola and remarked that it 
was a fine entertainer for the family. "Yes," said the 
man, "I bought it on the installment plan." The sales- 
man looked some more and saw several useful sets of 
books. He praised their appearance as well as their 
quality. "Yes," said the man, "I bought them on the 
monthly payment plan." 

Thereupon the salesman praised the man's taste and 
his thoughtfulness for the comfort of his family. Then 
the man volunteered the information that he had bought 
his wife a sewing machine and washing machine, his boy 
a bicycle, his girl a knitting and weaving machine, and 
much of their present furniture upon the installment 
plan. "For," said he, "while I could have bought them 
for less money cash down, yet I never have had enough 
spot cash at any one time. Without the installment 
plan of payment I never could have bought any of these 
things." 

This gave the salesman a splendid opening and he 
went right through it. He said, "Now, look here; you 
are too good a man to do things by halves. I know you 



86 PLYING THE TOOLS OF SALES-CRAFT 

want your wife and boy and girl to enjoy all these home 
comforts with you and I am dead sure that you hope 
they can continue to enjoy them should you be taken 
away. By sacrifice and planning you have provided 
these things. As long as you are strong and employed 
you will keep them here. Why not close up the only 
open gap and keep them here even after your death? 

"You can buy life insurance upon the installment 
basis — the monthly payment plan. It is within your 
reach just as truly as were this Victrola, these books, 
that sewing machine, washing machine, bicycle, knitting 
and weaving machines, and this new furniture. The life 
insurance, so bought, will bring you peace, comfort and 
assurance of mind, and it will guarantee the future of 
your wife, your boy and your girl. Close up this one 
remaining gap! Finish the work that you have so well 
begun!" 

The man dropped his head for a moment and then said, 
"Old man, I never thought of it in that light before. 
You have helped me by making me think. I'll take 
$3,000 with you." And he did. 

In an easy, pleasant way this salesman found an open- 
ing and took advantage of it. His credit marks show 
that he does this systematically and the small lapse 
among his new members shows that he does it well. 

In all fairness we must state that other salesmen have 
found the same road to success. We hope you will seek 
and find this road to Successville and then improve the 
road. 

Job No. 30 — Sportsmanship in Salesmanship 

Did you ever experience the excitement of a horse 
race? Ever attend a State Fair? Ever go to a County 
Fair? Ever watch the pacers, the trotters or the run- 



PLYING THE TOOLS OF SALES-CRAFT S7 

ners come tearing down the home stretch, neck and 
neck, straining every muscle, ears laid back, eyes bulg- 
ing, nostrils distended, putting forth every ounce of 
energy to be the first under the wire? Remember how 
you stood on your toes and craned your neck? Recollect 
how your hair twitched, how your skin tingled, how 
your mouth went dry? Nothing in this world stirs a 
man's anatomy from end to end so much as does a horse 
race. 

There is room for racing in salesmanship. A race adds 
zest to the game. A race robs salesmanship of its 
drudgery. A race raises the salesman's work to the 
rank of clean, exciting sport. No salesman ever reaches 
the pinnacle of success and satisfaction until he per- 
ceives and assimilates the sporting element in his work. 

In salesmanship you can race with others. It will 
stimulate your spirit of combativeness* The taste of 
victory is sweet. You will become anxious to outdo 
others. You will reach the point where you get positive 
exhilaration out of your work. You will come to look 
upon your work as the rarest and most interesting sport 
in the world. 

When you reach that point, nobody will have to drive 
you to your work. No one need tell you how many 
calls to make. You will require no further instructions 
as to methods. Success will settle down on your 
shoulders as its permanent abode. 

Job No. 31 — Make It Snappy 

In a certain part of Ohio is a town of 4,000 population. 
It is surrounded by excellent land and the farmers are 
prosperous. This town gets practically none of the 
farm trade. A few miles away is another town, just one- 
fourth as large as the first. The business section of this 



88 PLYING THE TOOLS OF SALES-CRAFT 

smaller town hums with activity. The merchants buy 
the kind of goods the farmer wants; they display these 
goods; they go out after the farm trade and they take it 
right away from the larger town, with its unattractive 
stores and sleepy merchants. Moral: Towns that want 
worth-while business must go after it. 

These two towns typify two widely different classes of 
salesmen. One kind of salesman is careless, indifferent 
and apparently "dead both ways from the neck." Pros- 
pects hover all about him; they go by him in all direc- 
tions; they almost run him down, yet none of them put 
their fists to the dotted line for him. Inertia, inactivity 
begets its usual results. Such a non-worker is a dis- 
grace to the noble calling of salesmanship. He makes a 
poorer showing than Jess Willard did in Toledo on July 
4th, 1919. 

Then there is the wide-awake salesman. There is snap 
in his walk. There is a charm in his steady gaze. There 
is the ring of victory in his voice. He goes out and gets 
them. He lands them, standing or sitting; he lassoes 
them on the run; he wings them in the air. Like the live 
town, he caters to the people and gets their business. 

Every society has had experience with both kinds. No 
society wants to clutter up the field with representatives 
that couldn't outrun a glacier. We are all thoroughly 
convinced that it is impossible to teach a snail to trot, 
pace or run. Give us more "hot-point" salesmen. "Live 
wires" are in demand. Let the dead birds be carried 
away to the life insurance morgue. 

Job No. 32— Overdoing It 

There is such a thing as over-selling. It is a quite com- 
mon fault of an over-anxious or over-enthusiastic sales- 



PLYING THE TOOLS OF SALES-CRAFT 89 

Mark Twain once went to church to hear a sermon on 
foreign missions. Mark never did explain how he came 
to go to church on that occasion and no one has been 
able to understand just why he did it. At any rate Mark 
went and describes what occurred substantially as fol- 
lows: The preacher depicted the conditions of heathen- 
dom and the crying need for missionary work. After 
the parson had talked twenty minutes Mark said he felt 
that he would be nothing but a dirty cur if he didn't 
contribute at least $400. After the minister had orated 
for thirty minutes Mark said he felt that a $200 donation 
would be his just quota. After forty minutes of sermon 
Mark decided that $100 would be enough for him to give. 
After each additional ten minutes of sermon Mark cut 
his proposed donation in half. That sermon was an hour 
and a half long. When the collection basket came 
around Mark said he reached in and took out a dime. 
He made it plain that he did this with an absolutely 
clear conscience. We have wondered for years if a 
dime was the largest piece of money in that basket. 

The preacher oversold his proposition to Mark. Had 
he stopped at the end of twenty minutes he would have 
had Mark on the dotted line for 400 "iron men." 

The same thing has happened many, many times in 
every branch of salesmanship. It will occur frequently 
in the future. This is one of the faults of salesmanship 
that you must avoid in order to attain the greatest 
success. 

job No. 33 — Train for the Game 

Did you ever shoot the ball down a bowling alley for 
a strike or a spare? Of course you have, many a time. 
Do you remember some big hulk of a fellow lofting the 
ball half way down the alley? Yes, you do. Almost 



90 PLYING THE TOOLS OF SALES-CRAFT 

invariably the ball rolled off the alley into the gutter and 
didn't bring down a "man." Those were good examples 
of great driving power untrained and misapplied. Do 
you recall players who would shoot the ball down the 
alley, straight as a die towards the king pin and then, 
when within four or five feet of the pins, that ball would 
wobble off to one side for a corner man or two? Yes, 
you recall them. They were striking examples of the 
need of a little more driving power. 

How much this bowling game is like the selling game 
of the life insurance salesman. One time you see a man 
who is very impressive. His lung power is prodigious 
and his physical activity is amazing. But he "lofts" his 
proposition and usually lands it in the "gutter." He 
rarely brings a man down to the dotted line. His 
ability is untrained and consequently misapplied. An- 
other time you see a man who makes a wonderful ap- 
proach. He looks like a sure winner but his driving 
power fails and his canvass withers at the dotted line. 
He is a star approacher but a bum closer. In some way 
he must develop more driving power, if he is to stay in 
the game and make a success of it. 

Training counts. It is absolutely essential. Ask the 
expert bowler. Ask the bookkeeper, the expert account- 
ant, the chemist, the machinist, the mechanic, the 
banker, the lawyer, the doctor, the dentist, the great 
merchant, the big manufacturer, the successful salesman. 
Success without training is next to impossible. Training 
consists largely of study and practice. Every insurance 
salesman should be a self-trainer. If he does a good job 
of training, he'll do a wonderful job of selling. 



PLYING THE TOOLS OF SALES-CRAFT 91 

Job No. 34 — The "Jay Town Show" 

<jne day in March, 1920, we dropped into a small town 
hotel. Sitting at the front window were three insurance 
salesmen — an old line man, a health and accident man 
and a fraternal man. We knew them but they didn't 
know us. It was 2 p. m. We went out and came bacK 
after 4 o'clock and they were still sitting at the window. 

It so happened that we were introduced to the three 
gentlemen at supper. One of them suggested that we 
stay over night and go with them to the best movie or 
vaudeville that the town afforded. The other two joined 
in the invitation and made it quite pressing. We said, 
"Gentlemen, we are sorry but we must be in to- 
night before 8:30. That is a large city, as you know. 

In the theater Broken Blossoms is being given for 

the first time. The prelude is given by living actors and 
the remainder is thrown on the screen. We are reliably 
informed that the show is really a wonder. Come along. 
Let's see something first class. You can get back here 
tonight and be ready for your work bright and early in 
the morning. The price of the tickets is $2.20 for the 
best seats, war tax included." 

"What! $2.20 for a movie! Count me out!" exclaimed 
one. "Do you take me for a millionaire?" asked a sec- 
ond. "I have to work for my money," said the third. 
Whereupon we replied: "Gentlemen, it is quite evident 
that our little party is off. We don't get your logic — 
your line of reasoning. To our certain knowledge you 
spent two hours this afternoon at the rummiest kind 
of a show. All you were able to see was an occasional 
man, woman, boy or girl of the ordinary type. Perhaps 
an automobile, truck, delivery wagon or a stray dog 
passed now and then. There was neither plot nor unity 



92 PLYING THE TOOLS OF SALES-CHAFT 

in the performance; there was just plain chronology. 
You had front seats, the best in the house. If you have 
the ability, as salesmen, that we think you have, it cost 
each of you not less than $20 to see this jay town show. 
Please excuse us now as we must catch our train." 

The world is full of such people. Not all of them are 
salesmen, but all of them are time-killers. You don't 
find them holding down the best jobs or the most 
responsible positions. Loafers are not leaders on the 
road to success. Leaders and prize-winners don't sit 
at the windows. The "jay town show" has no attrac- 
tion for them. They get out and hustle. 

Job No. 35 — Earmarks of Success 

Many years ago one of the great meat packers started 
his son on the road as a salesman for the packing plant. 
This was after the son had graduated from college and 
had worked for three years in the plant. The old packer 
was "bunged up" with rheumatism. His life had not led 
along a path of roses. He had hit all the bumps and 
had no shock absorbers. He had earned his way and 
knew "the ropes." 

The boy started in the plant at $12 per week. Remem- 
ber he was a college graduate at the time. The old man 
was determined that the boy should learn the business- 
and should likewise earn every dollar that he was paid. 
The boy got several promotions and several increases 
in pay, all based on sheer merit. He was getting $50 
per week when he started on the road. 

Now the boy was a little slow in starting as a sales- 
man. He had the old man on the anxious seat. After 
three months the father wrote his son a friendly but 
stiff letter. Among other things he said, "My son, there 
are just three ways for a man to prove himself a sales- 



PLYING THE TOOLS OF SALES-CRAFT 93 

man: I. Orders. 2. More orders. 3. Larger orders." 
The boy made the grade all right and today he man- 
ages a business, of which his old father never even 
dreamed. 

The old packer's words about salesmanship apply with 
full force to successful fieldwork. The home office 
judges your ability as a salesman by the applications 
you send in. Your fellow salesmen estimate you in the 
same way. Uncle Sam measures your success by your 
income tax schedule, which shows the results of your 
work. 

It matters not how intelligent you may be. It makes 
no difference how popular you may become. After all 
is said and done, the sole criterion of your success as a 
life insurance salesman is the number of applications 
and the amount of insurance you secure. 

Job No. 36 — Blue Sky vs. Life Insurance 

A recent estimate indicates that during 1917, 1918 
and 1919 small investors in this country absolutely lost 
over one billion dollars. By dazzling promises of large 
and quick returns such persons were gulled out of their 
government stamps and bonds. This scandalous result 
was achieved in spite of the fact that nearly all the states 
had sharp-toothed blue sky laws and of the further fact 
that the federal government made heroic efforts to pro- 
tect the small investor. It was a real tragedy. It is 
quite apparent that eternal vigilance is the price of 
safety in matters of investment. 

Every day you are offering to people of small means 
something larger and safer than investment. They do 
not have to pay down dollar for dollar. All they have 
to pay is from 2% to 6% of the principal amount annu- 
ally. Your prospect may be able to take a $1,000 or a 



94 PLYING THE TOOLS OF SALES-CRAFT 

$5,000 policy, while he couldn't buy even a $500 bond. 
The blue sky artist will find it both difficult and danger- 
ous to wheedle him out of the policy. Thus, your offer- 
ing is both larger and safer for your prospect than is 
investment. His premiums really amount to the pay- 
ment of a low rate of interest upon the principal and 
the principal is always at par. Your proposition pre- 
cisely meets the needs of the person of small means. 

Job No. 37 — -Fire Insurance vs. Life Insurance 

A recent number of a fraternal magazine states that 
nearly all fireproof buildings are heavily insured. We 
can picture our old friend, the editor, rolling this state- 
ment off his facile pen just before catching the suburban 
express for the city. He has a way of saying and writ- 
ing things that make you think. 

The first thing we thought of was an old house in 
the little town where we spent our boyhood. The house 
was built in 1875. During 46 years it has caught fire 
three or four times, but was not greatly damaged at any 
time. There hasn't been a moment during that 46 years 
that this old house was not fully covered by fire insur- 
ance. 

During that 46 years eight different families have 
lived in that house. Seventeen adult members of those 
families have died and not one of them carried a dollar's 
worth of life insurance at death. Because of these deaths 
some of those families were left in very straitened 
financial circumstances. 

This old house has never burned. It may never burn, 
although it is of wooden construction. Fireproof build- 
ings are not likely to be destroyed by fire, unless caught 
in the sweep of a mighty conflagration; yet they are 
always covered by fire insurance. The purpose of such 



PLYING THE TOOLS OF SALES-CRAFT 93 

insurance is to protect property owners and their estates 
against a loss that may never occur. 

When men and women establish homes and raise 
families their lives are no longer exclusively their own. 
The husband's life in a large measure belongs to the wife 
and children. The wife's life in a similar manner belongs 
to her husband and children. There exists a legal and 
moral right to support. This right may be stricken 
down at any time and it is sure to be destroyed in the 
end. If fire insurance is a wise and convenient pro- 
vision against possible loss, then life insurance is both 
a wise and a necessary provision against death, which is 
an absolutely unescapable loss. This loss has been suf- 
fered and tragically borne by untold millions. 

Such a loss is avoidable in almost every case. Its 
avoidance requires a little foresight and some measure 
of sacrifice. But every good thing in this world is the 
result of somebody's foresight and of somebody's sacri- 
fice. Impress this thought upon your prospects. It will 
cause them to think. Once sold, they will stay sold. 

Job No. 38 — Freak Competition 

Well, this old world didn't come to an end on Decem- 
ber 17, 1920. Another goose-bone prophet was dis- 
credited and another goose-bone prophecy went to the 
bow-wows. As far back as we can trace, almost every 
generation has had a crop of this kind of prophets. On 
many occasions credulous people, believing such prophe- 
cies, have sold their earthly possessions and prepared 
celestial robes, which they deemed suitable for their 
entry into the pearly gates. 

About 30 years ago an old farmer in Coles County, 
Illinois, became moon-eyed over such a prophecy. He 
procured an ascension robe and, upon the appointed day, 



96 PLYING THE TOOLS OF SALES-CRAFT 

went out and climbed upon a big strawstack so that he 
would have a good start when the final blow-off came. 
As the day wore away, this farmer became weary and 
drowsy. Finally he fell asleep. Then some wicked, 
scoffing unbeliever crept from hiding and stuck a lighted 
match to the straw. In a few moments the stack was a 
wild mass of flames. At this juncture the farmer awak- 
ened, leaped to his feet, scanned the blazing heavens 
and screeched in accents wild, "In h — 1, just as I ex- 
pected!" 

There isn't an institution in the world today about 
which such prophecies have not been made time and 
again. Once in a while you will hear of some so-called 
representative of a competitive concern who sagely 
shakes his head, wags his ears, rolls his eyes, lifts up his 
hands, sways his body and in unctuous tones predicts 
that your society has only one or two more years to 
live. It is a Chinese puzzle how such people manage to 
live at the expense of credulous employers. The method 
of dealing effectively with the goose-bone prophet is so 
simple that we are ashamed to say it. You say it. 

Job No. 39— We Leave It to You 

We want to ask you a question. You can answer it 
upon self-analysis. This is the question: "If you were 
boss, would you give yourself your present job?" 

Are you improving, becoming more expert, in ap- 
proaching people and getting a satisfactory interview? 
If a prospect says, "I have Old Line Insurance and 
don't want any Fraternal," does he get away with it? 
If he professes not to believe in life insurance, do you 
leave him? If he bluffs, dodges, evades, or otherwise 
tries to put you off or to rout you, does he succeed? 
If he says he already has a policy in your society, does 



PLYING THE TOOLS OP SALES-CRAFT 97 

that stop you? If the first interview is unsuccessful, do 
you quit? If the second interview does not land him, 
do you give him up? Are you resourceful, skillful, 
expert in the matter of securing a fair hearing for your 
proposition? Would you as boss, knowing your ability 
or your lack of it in this respect, give yourself your pres- 
ent job? 

Do you present your proposition in its most favorable 
light? Are you quick to discover the points that are of 
most interest to the prospect before you? Can you meet 
the competition of other societies or companies without 
ridiculing, belittling or misrepresenting them? Can you 
demonstrate in a convincing manner that safe Fraternal 
protection is cheaper than Old Line? Can you detect 
the time when you cease to interest a prospect and begin 
to bore him? Can you avoid over-canvassing, when your 
prospect's name goes on the dotted line? Do you write 
your applicants for as large an amount as they need 
and can afford to carry? Do you seek and search for 
better and more striking methods of presenting your 
proposition? Do you ever discover any short cuts to 
quicker success? Do you have any difficulty in collect- 
ing the required fees when your applicants sign? Can 
you get your applicants to the medical examiner with- 
out having practically to recanvass and rewrite them? 
Do you notice that you are gradually growing stronger 
and more effective in your canvassing of prospects? 
Would you as boss, knowing your strength and persist- 
ency or your weakness in the matter of canvassing, give 
yourself your present job? 

Are you industrious? Do you squander any of the 
time of your society? Do you get to work at seven 
o'clock, or eight, or nine, or ten, or eleven o'clock? Do 
you knock off work at two o'clock, at three, at four, at 



98 PLYING THE TOOLS OF SALES-CRAFT 

five, or at six o'clock? Do you know the actual money 
value of one hour of your time? Do you work spas- 
modically and periodically or are you always at it? Do 
you work as hard as if the eyes of the boss were con- 
stantly on you? Do you keep a record of your mistakes? 
Do you dislike to get to your work or are you eager and 
anxious to be at it? Would you as boss, knowing your 
habit of industry, give yourself your present job? 

Every man's boss, if he is up-to-date, judges every 
worker by the volume, quality and permanency of re- 
sults. It matters not whether a man works five feet or 
five hundred miles from his boss, the results tell the 
story unerringly. The worker who improves himself, 
who is constantly industrious, who is ever eager to do 
more and better work, produces satisfactory results and 
proves a success. There is rarely much trouble between 
such a worker and the boss. 



Note: (See page 56.) Since this test was printed we have learned 
of two top-notch life insurance salesmen, who won a vacation trip 
of six weeks, with all expenses paid, to the Pacific Coast. Both 
salesmen declined the trip. They stated that they would like to 
take it for the pleasure and educational value but that they could 
not spare the time from their work. These two men have level 
heads. There is many a level head among fraternal salesmen. 
When we say "level head" we don't mean "flat head." 



PART III 

TRAINING APPRENTICE 
SALESMEN 



PART III. 

TRAINING APPRENTICE SALESMEN 

1— Time Wasted on Never-Can-Be's 

It is a crime against salesmanship to give a contract 
to every Tom, Dick, Harry and Elizabeth that comes 
along. Any manager who pursues such a course proves 
conclusively that he has not yet "arrived." Contracts 
that cannot result in a reasonable volume of new busi- 
ness are a positive detriment and injury to any society. 

2 — Avoid Salesmanship Leprosy 

It is a crime against salesmanship to employ any per- 
son whose habits run counter to successful salesman- 
ship. (1) If a man is lazy, pass him up. Life insurance 
salesmanship is anything but a lazy man's job. (2) If 
a man is dishonest or tricky, don't give him a contract. 
Above all things else, life insurance should be sold by 
men who are honest and square as a die. (3) If a man 
is strong after women, avoid him as you would the 
plague. He can destroy in a day what required years 
to build up. He will, sooner or later, disgrace the propo- 
sition and the institution that he represents. (4) Men 
addicted to the use of liquor or drugs should always be 
passed by. Understand, please, that the objections to 
men who are lazy, dishonest, woman-crazy, drinkers or 
drug-users are not based upon moral grounds as much 
as upon pure business reasons. The business must be 
kept clean. Then people will respect it, enthuse over it 
and boost it. 

3 — Mop Up the Trenches and Dugouts 

Perhaps the most serious crime against salesmanship 
consists in giving a naturally capable man a contract and 



102 TRAINING APPRENTICE SALESMEN 

then setting him adrift to work his way out. This 
would be just like taking a man, blindfolded, into the 
center of a great swamp and there deserting him. Ten 
chances to one he will never get out alive. This course 
has lost to our societies many a man who would have 
made a first-class salesman had he been given the 
proper support and preliminary training. 

4 — Sane Advice to Managers 

To sales-managers in the home office, to state man- 
agers and to district managers we say: (1) Be stingy 
with your contracts. It is far better to issue too few 
than too many. (2) Never give a contract to any one 
who has a habit, or habits, that are vicious from the 
viewpoint of successful salesmanship. This will save 
you considerable time and much grief. (3) Don't give a 
contract to a promising man and then desert him. By 
so doing you absolutely insure his failure. Spend from 
four to six weeks with a man after you give him a con- 
tract. If he isn't worth that much of your time, you 
make a mistake in ever giving him a contract. Eight 
or ten men employed and well-trained in the course of a 
year are better than a hundred, given contracts, only 
three or four of whom may survive the harsh condi- 
tions under which they are compelled to work. 

5 — Mr. Manager, Hew to the Line 

Any manager who cannot follow these few funda- 
mental suggestions needs to take himself in hand and 
whip himself into line. Developing a large, effective 
sales-force is the work of years. There is no short cut. 
Neither is there any chance or luck about it. It requires 
patience, exercise of good judgment and persistent work. 



TRAINING APPRENTICE SALESMEN 103 

No manager should permit his anxiety to unhorse his 
better judgment. 

6 — Six Fundamentals 

There are six important things in the early training 
of the new salesman. He cannot be thoroughly educated 
in four or five weeks' time, but he can be given a start 
that will probably assure his success. He can be led 
out of the bogs or forest maze, set upon the high-road 
to success and headed in the right direction. After that 
he can and will find his own way. He may run into a 
lot of mud-holes; he may encounter many sharp turns; 
he may bump into a post or run off a culvert occasionally; 
but, no matter what difficulties he may meet, he will have 
the heart, the courage and the self-confidence to go 
through. After all is said and done, it is persistency that 
turns the tide. 

We shall enumerate these six fundamental things and 
then discuss them in their order. The new salesman 
must have: 

(1) A knowledge of the principles of salesmanship. 

In a general way he must understand the effect 
of the approach, of explanations and illustra- 
tions, and of closing a sale. In a word, he must 
realize why some plans work while others fail. 

(2) A workable system of getting prospects. A new 

man without prospects is like a lamb lost in a 
wilderness. He soon loses heart. 

(3) A knowledge of the principal reasons why men 

and women buy life insurance. Based upon 
these reasons, he must know the points that 
strike home. 



104 TRAINING APPRENTICE SALESMEN 

(4) Some Advance Preparation. He must prepare 

himself in advance with forcible presentations 
of a number of important points. These can 
easily be worked into his selling talks. 

(5) A clear understanding of the proposition he is 

selling. He can get such an understanding only 
by studying carefully the certificates or policies 
issued by the society he represents. An accu- 
rate knowledge of the benefits given and of the 
privileges granted is of inestimable value to him. 

(6) A good working knowledge of local lodges. A 

study of the Ritual, of the By-Laws and of the 
Rate Manual or Literature of his society will 
give him this necessary information. 

ENLARGEMENT OF ABOVE SUB-HEADS 

(1) Principles of Salesmanship 

Mr. Manager, you have had experience. You are fa- 
miliar with some plans that work as well as some that 
fail. From time to time you can tell your new man about 
them. You can inform him of the waj r s to approach 
different kinds of people. You can instruct him as to 
what arguments are likely to appeal most strongly to 
various classes of persons. You can point out the most 
effective methods of closing with prospects. 

Occasionally you will go out with your new man and 
observe his method of operation. Much more frequently 
he will go out alone and then report to you verbally. You 
can analyze and dissect his methods in cases wherein he 
was successful. Many times you can point out to him 
where and how he could have improved his canvass. 
More important than the above, you can analyze and dis- 



TRAINING APPRENTICE SALESMEN 105 

sect his failures. Show him wherein he failed. Then 
let him go back and try again. He won't succeed in 
many cases, but he will succeed often enough to give him 
growing confidence in himself. 

Once in a while you can go with the new man or you 
can take him with you and let him observe your working 
methods. If you do this too often, he may endeavor to 
imitate you and your methods. In that case he will prob- 
ably fail when he goes out alone. No two salesmen work 
exactly alike. Every salesman has a method peculiar to 
himself. This method fits his personality like a glove. 
That is the method that he should be encouraged and 
compelled to cultivate. 

You can also cite him to good books upon salesman- 
ship. The Home Office can help him through letters and 
suggestions. A salesman can study salesmanship all his 
life and can constantly learn something new about the 
subject. 

(2) System of Getting Prospects 

It is safe to say that the salesman who has the best 
system of getting prospects is uniformly most success- 
ful. All authorities agree that this is the general rule. 
This makes it self-evident that the new salesman should 
adopt some plan, even though it be a crude one. Time 
and experience will enable him to improve his method 
or to discover a better one. It is only necessary to 
emphasize the fact that he should start with some sys- 
tematic method. 

There is the telephone directory, either the general or 
the classified. Neither includes all the desirable and pro- 
curable prospects. Then there is the city or rural direc- 
tory. This will include most of the desirables but, at 
the same time, it includes all the undesirables and im- 



106 TRAINING APPRENTICE SALESMEN 

possibles. To follow a directory in the pursuit of pros- 
pects is not a very satisfactory method, nevertheless it 
is a hundred times better than no plan at all. The house- 
to-house canvass works well in many instances — perhaps 
in the majority of cases. For the average man going 
into a strange place it is probably the shortest road to 
quick results. Letters of introduction help very greatly, 
but they are not always obtainable. Securing the service 
of some local man, who is well and favorably known, to 
accompany and introduce the salesman is usually pro- 
ductive of highly satisfactory results. 

KEEP A RECORD 

The new salesman should be induced to keep a written 
record of prospects. A small memorandum book is ad- 
mirably adapted to this purpose. People who have been 
sold are alwaj^s first-class prospects for additional in- 
surance until they have the maximum allowed by his 
society. Persons who have not been written can often 
be secured after a lapse of time. Members and others 
can often be induced to give the names of prospects. All 
should go into the little vest pocket record. The new 
salesman should be taught that there should never be a 
moment in his life in which he does not know one or 
more prospects whom he can approach immediately. 

A system of getting prospects and keeping a written 
record of them will lead to the keeping of another record, 
perhaps in the same little book. This will be a record 
of the canvasses made. The salesman's record of "calls 
made" is the criterion of his progress and of his success. 
It shows him in "black and white" just what his time is 
worth. Suppose he makes 30 calls or canvasses a week 
and suppose he writes five of his 30 prospects for $1,000 



TRAINING APPRENTICE SALESMEN 107 

each. If he gets a commission of $8 per thousand, this 
would mean $40 for his week's work. His calls are on 
the average worth $1.33^3 each. Whenever he canvasses 
a prospect, he knows that his canvass is worth $1.33^3. 
The successful salesman is ambitious. He wants to in- 
crease his income. There are several ways in which he 
can do it. 

In the first place, he might travel faster and make 42 
calls a week. This would give him $2,000 more of insur- 
ance written and $16 more weekly income. His calls 
would still be worth an average of $1.33^ each. Now we 
all know there is a limit to the number of prospects that 
can be seen and properly canvassed in a week's time. 
However, there is another way in which the salesman 
can increase his income. By close study and improved 
methods of salesmanship, he might succeed in writing 
10 people out of 30 calls for $1,000 each. This would 
give him $80 per week and would increase the average 
worth of his calls to $2.66^3 each. This would certainly 
indicate improvement in the salesman's effectiveness. By 
still further improvement in his methods the salesman 
might induce 10 persons out of 30 calls made to take 
an average policy of $2,000 each. This would increase 
his weekly income to $160 and would make his average 
call worth $5.33^3 each. Surely this would indicate a 
tremendous improvement in the salesman's efficiency. 
But this would not be the end. The longer the success- 
ful salesman works, the more calls he can make, the 
higher will be the percentage of his calls that materialize 
into applications and the larger will be the average policy 
he writes. 

By all means teach the new salesman to follow some 
system in getting prospects and to keep a record of the 



108 TRAINING APPRENTICE SALESMEN 

calls he makes. His time and ability are his capital and 
he should know just what they are worth to him. 

(3) Why People Take Insurance 

We cannot expect a salesman to meet with success un- 
less he has some understanding of the causes that move 
people to take life insurance. In the beginning of his 
career he must rely upon the directing and supervising 
manager and upon his own limited experience. At a 
later period he can get much valuable information from 
books and life insurance journals. But at first, Mr. 
Manager, the heavy burden falls upon your shoulders. 
You must point out the particular points or features that 
appeal to people in general and to the merchant, the 
shop-man, the salaried man, the wage-earner, the farmer 
and others in particular. You must explain to him clearly 
why these various features make a strong appeal to dif- 
ferent classes of people. Be sure that he understands 
your explanation. Your observation and analysis of his 
early canvasses will enable you to perceive to what ex- 
tent he grasps and presents these important features. 

Why People Take Life Insurance 

(A) Young men and women. They don't earn large 
salaries or wages as a rule. They are just entering life. 
Responsibility seems far away or, at most, rests lightly 
upon their shoulders. They are constantly tempted to 
spend all they make and more. This is the wrong start 
in life. They should form some tie or connection that 
will compel them to save. There is nothing that accom- 
plishes this result so well as a life insurance policy. The 
insurance will protect the father and mother who footed 
the bills for schooling and early training. Later it can be 
transferred to protect the young man's or woman's own 



TRAINING APPRENTICE SALESMEN 109 

family. The rate will never be so low at a more advanced 
age. The accumulated reserve is always available in a 
pinch. No one lives who can either foresee or avoid all 
emergencies. The fact that a young person carries life 
insurance has a steadying effect. It greatly increases the 
respect, esteem and consideration of employer, business 
people and friends for the insured. No young man or 
woman should permit an aging father and mother to 
carry the risk, however remote, of having to pay doctor 
bills, funeral expenses and debts in case of death. 

(B) Older people. 

(1) To provide protection for a wife, or wife and 
children. You can elaborate upon this point. 

(2) To protect the home and other property against 
depreciation and forced sale to pay debts by furnishing 
ready cash. You can elaborate upon this point. 

(3) To provide a means of taking care of mortgage 
in case of death. Elaborate this point. 

(4) To protect business creditors or other creditors. 
Enlarge upon this point. 

(5) To improve one's credit and standing at the bank. 
Enlarge. 

(6) To enable one to spend more of his income upon 
the necessities or comforts of life, without grave fear of 
serious consequences. Enlarge. 

(7) To enable one to spread out and to take greater 
risks in business. Enlarge. 

(8) To provide an immediate estate, in the event of 
death, that a person plans to spend a lifetime in accu- 
mulating. Enlarge. 

(9) To establish a compulsory system of saving, which 
is better than a savings account in a bank. Of all peocle 



110 TRAINING APPRENTICE SALESMEN 

who start a savings account in January, half of them with- 
draw or abandon the account by July 1st, and 25 per 
cent more do so by Labor Day. Human nature persists 
most effectively under virtual compulsion. Elaborate 
this point. 

(10) To provide a support for dependents in case the 
insured takes that long journey from which there is no 
return. If a man went away to be gone a year, or two 
years, he would make some definite provision for his 
family. If he didn't do so he could be brought back on the 
criminal charge of abandonment. No man really desires 
that death shall make him morally a deserter of his family 
and an embezzler to the amount of their future support. 
Enlarge upon this point. 

(4) Standardized Sales Talk 

The new salesman gets many chilly receptions. He 
meets numerous rebuffs and occasional discourtesy. Such 
conditions are not ideal for bubbling enthusiasm and for 
the delivery of a strong, extemporaneous presentation of 
a proposition. The veteran salesman knows just what 
to do under such circumstances, but there is grave dan- 
ger that the new salesman will go lame and flounder 
around until he gives up in despair. Cold ham may be 
all right for picnics but the cold shoulder is no picnic 
for the new salesman. 

Under your direction and with your assistance, Mr. 
Supervising Manager, the new salesman should prepare 
talks upon given topics. He should commit these talks 
to memory. You should have him repeat them verbatim. 
Then you should have him re-state them to you in other 
than the written words. Train him in them until you 
feel sure he can make use of one or all of them under 
adverse surroundings. This will enable him to retain 



TRAINING APPRENTICE SALESMEN 111 

confidence in himself and control over himself. That 
will be far more than half the battle. 

It is scarcely necessary to add that you should guard 
the beginner against delivering these talks in an unnat- 
ural, declamatory, or stilted style. That would make 
him ridiculous and ineffective Teaching him to recite 
the substance rather than the exact words of these pre- 
pared arguments will usually prove an ample safeguard. 

Suggested Topics for Prepared Arguments 

Let the new salesman use paper and pencil freely. No 
other known method will so quickly develop a man's 
mind, clarify his thinking and result in an effective sys- 
tem of working. 

(1) A life insurance policy means thrift and safety. 

(2) Life insurance guarantees an estate no matter 
what happens. 

(3) Real estate, merchandise, stocks and bonds de- 
preciate, even Liberty Bonds. Life insurance stands at 
par under all circumstances and conditions. 

(4) Life insurance is the only absolutely sure protec- 
tion of wife, children or other dependents. 

(5) Wives may object to life insurance but widows 
never do. 

(6) Young people may die; old people must die. 

(7) Life insurance improves one's credit and business 
standing. 

(8) Life insurance transfers the risk of irreparable 
loss from weak shoulders to strong ones. 

(9) Life insurance removes worry from a man's mind, 
enlarges his field of action and increases his self-con- 
fidence. 



112 TRAINING APPRENTICE SALESMEN 

(10) The Policy reserve is always available to meet 
any emergency. It may save a life, a home or a business. 
You don't have to die to win. 

(11) Life insurance enables a man to be ready at all 
times to take the long, long journey. 

(12) After death a hog is worth 10 cents a pound. Any 
dead man should be worth more than that. 

(13) Life insurance makes any man more respectable. 
It increases his respect for himself and the respect of 
others for him. 

(14) Fraternal life insurance means aid, support and 
sympathy in time of need; visitation, flowers and atten- 
tive care in sickness; consolation and relief when the grim 
reaper crosses the sacred portal of the home. 

(15) Most any man would buy a lot or a farm worth a 
thousand dollars upon the payment of $25 or $50 a year 
throughout life, provided the lot or farm was to become 
the absolute property of his estate in case of his death. 
That is exactly what a life insurance policy is. It is even 
better. A man's family or heirs do not have to sell the 
policy to get the full cash value, hence there is no danger 
of loss from depreciation or other cause. 

Caution: Some of your best arguments may grow old 
or stale to you. That should not trouble you. After an 
expert acquires the master plays or moves in any game, 
he always uses those plays and moves, whenever he 
plays the game. Selling life insurance is a game. 
Masterly arguments are the plays and moves that win. 
However aged any argument may appear to you, always 
remember that it is new to your prospect. Some of the 
oldest arguments are the very best. They bring home 
the bacon and that is what you are after. 



TRAINING APPRENTICE SALESMEN 113 

(5) Mastery of Certificate or Policy Forms 

The Manual or Printed Literature of every society 
presents a complete explanation of its forms of Certifi- 
cates or Policies. These forms are usually quite simple 
and are easily susceptible of being understood. Mr. Su- 
pervising Manager, you must cover this ground with 
each new salesman. It is your duty to him, to yourself 
and to your society. Be sure that he understands them. 
To make doubly sure, quiz him at various opportune 
times. Have him explain to you the differences between 
your various Certificates or Policies. If your society 
grants Withdrawal Equities make certain that he under- 
stands clearly the relation between such Equities and 
the Reserves. If your society pays Dividends or skips 
Assessments, which are in fact Dividends, he must un- 
derstand the nature, sources and functions of Surplus. 
He should master your society's Classification of Occu- 
pations. By resorting to an occasional test you can 
satisfy yourself as to whether he has a workable knowl- 
edge of the society's plans. 

Applications 

Drill him carefully in the matter of asking questions 
and filling out applications. Time spent in this way will 
save delay, vexations and the probable loss of business. 
In connection with the application lead the new sales- 
man to become familiar with the Rules and Regulations 
relating to Medical Examinations. 

(6) Local Lodge Organization and Operation 

The lodge room is the fireside of the society. The 
lodge meeting is the family gathering of members. Mem- 
bers will come to the lodge room, they will attend the 



114 TRAINING APPRENTICE SALESMEN 

meetings if there is something instructive or something 
entertaining to interest them. 

If your society pays Dividends every member will be 
interested in his own Dividend. That touches him per- 
sonally. Not only will he watch and wait anxiously for 
his own Dividend, but he will be curious to know about 
the Dividends of other members. He will go to the 
lodge hall and attend the meetings to satisfy his curiosity. 
Comparison will lead to discussion, study, investigation. 
Members will bring their Certificates or Policies from 
their hiding places. Dividends will probably be sent out 
each month in the year. This will sustain the interest and 
make it continuous. 

Special Programs for the meetings can be mapped out 
for three months, six months or even a year in advance. 
This will enable every member to take an active part in 
one or more meetings each year. Any society can do this, 
even if it does not pay Dividends. All the societies should 
do it. It is the only sure way of throwing off the stupor 
that follows readjustment. 

The average member of a fraternal society is like a 
stagnant pool. The hum-drum lodge meeting does not 
stir him up. It doesn't even ruffle the surface. He sits 
in the lodge hall and evaporates in the dry atmosphere 
until he literally dries up. Then he stays away. Who 
can blame him? 

Dividends and live Programs will revive our dead 
lodges. The old-fashioned member, who chucks his Cer- 
tificate away in his trunk or pigeon-hole and who goes 
through the dreary performance of paying his assess- 
ment every month or two, will disappear. The new- 
style member will be right up on his toes. The element 
of mystery, of misunderstanding, and of lack of under- 
standing will be gone. The member will understand the 



TRAINING APPRENTICE SALESMEN 115 

full operation of the society in his own case. He will 
seek to know and will learn how the society operates in 
the case of his fellow-members. He will become an in- 
telligent, watchful, active and positive unit in the ranks 
of the membership. That is what we all want and what 
we all need. 

Any kind of amusement will entertain such a member. 
The Ritualistic Ceremonies of opening the lodge, of con- 
ducting its business, of closing the lodge, of initiating 
candidates, of providing for the sick and needy, and of 
burying the dead will scintillate with life for him. Lit- 
erary programs, an occasional lecture, a lodge dance or 
card party, a lodge picnic will be attractive to him. Start- 
ing with himself he will be able to visualize his connec- 
tion with his society. What our members need is vision 
and vision can be developed only upon the foundation of 
clear and complete understanding. Give our members 
vision and all our troubles will vanish. 

It is your duty to impart such a vision to the new sales- 
man. He, in turn, will impart it to the members he 
secures. 

But you must instruct the new salesman in the matters 
of lodge organization and lodge operation. His mem- 
bers will look up to him as a leader, as an instructor and 
as a sane adviser. He must be qualified to meet their 
expectations. Go carefully with him through the subject. 
Have him find, mark and study all sections of the so- 
ciety's By-Laws, that are related to local lodge procedure. 
Analyze and explain them to him. Then quiz him about 
them. You should also journey through the Ritual with 
him. While it is not strictly necessary it will be all the 
better if he memorizes all the charges given in the Ritual. 
He will then be capable of stepping into any position 



116 TRAINING APPRENTICE SALESMEN 

upon a moment's notice and of performing any part in 
an admirable manner. 

In from four to six weeks of proper preliminary train- 
ing the new salesman will become well and safely 
grounded in these six fundamental elements. He will 
be started upon the road to success. Under all ordinary 
circumstances he will be able to stand alone. The longer 
he works the more effective he will become. The right 
kind of preliminary training is the only sure road to 
successful salesmanship. 



PART IV 
WHET-STONES 



PART IV 

WHET-STONES 

1. Too Late! 

Every year more than 50,000 people in our country 
are rejected for life insurance. They want insurance 
but cannot get it. Five years ago 45,000 of them could 
have secured insurance; four years ago 35,000 of them 
could have obtained it; one year ago 25,000 would have 
been accepted; six months ago 15,000 would have passed 
and two or three months ago 10,000 of them were in an 
insurable condition. And so the never ending procession 
marches on and on and ever on. The time to insure is 
NOW, — not next week, nor next month, nor next year. 

2. Is Your Turn Next? 

One man in every seven suffers death or serious injury 
by accident every year. So reliable statistics indicate. 
This does not include death from natural causes. Neither 
does it include mortality from any cause among women 
and children. In a few words it means that every year 
every man — any man, and this means you — has less than 
one chance in seven of living to the end of the year with- 
out meeting either a serious injury or death through 
accident. 

Do you ever hear of any man leaving too much life 
insurance? Did you ever hear of any man who left 
enough life insurance? An inspection of public records 
in the settlement of estates, a reading of obituary notices, 
an investigation into the living conditions of dependent 
relatives left behind will reveal a trail of poverty, want, 
sickness, crime and death that even the hideous and ap- 



120 WHET-STONES 

palling toll of war cannot equal. Beyond all doubt life 
insurance affords a positive and powerful means of mak- 
ing this a safer and better world in which to live. 

3. Where? 

Do you imagine that people will ask where you have 
gone after you die? Not on your tin-type! They will 
ask if you left any life insurance and, if so, how much. 
When these two questions are answered they will know 
where you have gone without asking. 

4. The Half Loaf 

It is an old saying that a half loaf is better than none. 
Doubtless this is true, but no sane person claims that a 
half loaf is better than a whole loaf. Many people carry 
half loaf insurance. They should get into the whole loaf 
class. Things done by halves are never done right. This 
applies to life insurance just as aptly as it does to any- 
thing else. 

5. Don't Do It 

It is neither safe nor wise to lapse your certificate. 
If you do, you'll have to pay more to get another. You 
may have become uninsurable; then you can't get an- 
other. During the period of lapse you might die and 
your family will have to shoulder the burden that you 
should have left to be borne by some good society. 

6. Your Watchman Never Sleeps 

The certificate which you hold in any good society is 
your Watchman. More than likely you have filed it 
away in some safe place. Without the pause or skip of 
a moment it protects those for whom you took it. It 
never sleeps and will protect until the end unless you 
strike it dead by your own carelessness or neglect. 



WHET-STONES 121 

You had better keep that certificate in force. Keep 
your Watchman on the job. The world is full of rob- 
bers (diseases and dangers) that have put the skull and 
cross-bones opposite your name. They are sure to get 
you sooner or later. There is no mistake about this. 
When that time comes, your Watchman, who never 
sleeps, will render remarkable and satisfactory service to 
the loved ones you leave behind. 



7. An Example for Us 

Do you know Mai Rose of Oskaloosa, Iowa? He is 
the author of "Just Half Enough's Enough for Me" and 
other splendid poems. 

He is an invalid. Physically he is as helpless as a 
baby. His joints have ossified. He can't move a limb, 
lift a finger or turn his head. He composes his poetry, 
commits it to memory, and, when a poem is thus com- 
pleted, dictates it to a stenographer. 

Of himself he says: "I am not the most helpless in- 
valid in the world. I see people whose suffering and 
misfortune are greater than mine and with whom I would 
not change places. But as they would likely not change 
places with me, we both have something to be thankful 
for. Things could be much worse for me. I am surely 
fortunate in being well cared for at home, and being 
well cared for means so much when you consider that 
the constant attention of two and three persons is neces- 
sary for my well-being." 

8. The Father's Income and Infant Mortality 

The U. S. Children's Bureau in eight cities shows that 
children of well-to-do parents have the best chance to 



122 WHET-STONES 

live. It is impossible not to conclude that poverty causes 
an excessive waste of infant life. One child out of every 
six died in the group whose fathers received less than 
$550 per year. One out of nine died in the group whose 
fathers earned from $550 to $650 per annum. One out 
of ten died in the group whose fathers received from 
$650 to $850 per year. One out of twelve died in the 
group whose fathers received from $850 to $1,050 per 
annum. One out of fourteen died in the group whose 
fathers received from $1,050 to $1,250 per year. One out 
of sixteen died in the group whose fathers received more 
than $1,250 per annum. The report shows very plainly 
that the baby death-rate increases as the father's income 
decreases. No greater indictment of poverty was ever 
written. It is undeniably a curse that plagues and blights 
the human race. 

9. When Ready Cash Counts Most 

There is no crisis in life when money is so essential 
as in the disruption caused by death. This is especially 
true when the bread-winner is taken away. That is the 
time when a readjustment must be made that largely 
determines the future of every surviving member of the 
family. The success of this readjustment cannot be so 
greatly imperiled in any way as by the lack of money. 

It is not necessary to be actually poverty-stricken to 
be greatly embarrassed in a financial way during such a 
crisis. The deceased may leave sufficient assets in real 
estate and other forms of property. The settlement of 
an estate requires time. Real estate, mortgages, stocks 
or bonds cannot be immediately converted into cash. 
When hastily converted into cash property nearly always 
suffers from depreciation. Money constitutes assets in 
their most liquid and non-shrinkable form. The proceeds 



WHET-STONES 123 

of a life insurance policy obviates all depreciation and 
financial embarrassment. The almost instant availability 
of the proceeds of a policy makes life insurance the 
choicest of all investments to meet the greatest of all 
emergencies in human life. 

10. Who's an Embezzler? 

An embezzler, according to Webster, who is the Hoyle 
among lexicographers, is one who wrongfully and ille- 
gally appropriates to his own use the money or property 
of another, which money or property originally came into 
his possession in a legal manner. The officer of a bank 
embezzles when he speculates on the stock exchange 
with the money of depositors. An administrator or 
executor embezzles when he buys property for himself 
with the funds of the estate. A guardian or custodian 
is an embezzler when he uses the money of his ward to 
pay his own living expenses or his personal debts. 

Whenever a child is born that child has the natural 
right to an opportunity to develop into useful manhood 
or womanhood. That opportunity is entrusted both by 
nature and by the laws of man to the father and mother 
of the child. Natural law and human law alike place 
upon the shoulders of the parents the duty to support and 
educate the child. While it is not real estate or money 
or other form of tangible property, nevertheless that 
child's right to an opportunity is an intangible thing of 
great value and of vast importance to the child itself. 
It is undoubtedly a natural and inalienable property right. 
This property right is naturally, legally and properly 
entrusted to the child's parents. 

The father who loafs, who squanders his earnings in 
drink, in gambling or in blue-sky propositions, literally 
embezzles this property of his child. The father or 



124 WHET-STONES 

mother who deserts the child robs it of its opportunity 
and thereby becomes a moral embezzler if not a legal 
one. Many quotations from the Bible can be cited rela- 
tive to parents who fail to support their children. The 
laws in every state and in almost every country in the 
world prescribe the duties of parents as to the support, 
or as to the support and education, of children. Penal- 
ties are provided for parents who neglect, fail or refuse 
to furnish such support. 

And what shall we say of the father or mother who 
fails to make safe this natural and all-important oppor- 
tunity of the child, through the medium of life insurance? 
In this country of ours are hundreds of life insurance 
concerns that are ready, anxious and willing at all times 
to furnish to parents a service that will make their chil- 
dren's future safe beyond the peradventure of a doubt. 
Thousands upon thousands of men and women carry 
the message of life insurance and protection to millions 
of firesides every year. Newspapers, magazines, trade 
journals and fraternal publications keep the subject con- 
stantly before the public eye. The U. S. government in 
a short time organized and successfully operated the 
largest life insurance organization the world ever saw. 
In the face of these conditions what can we say of the 
parent who fails, neglects or refuses to protect the future 
of his child or children? There is only one word in the 
English language that fits such a case and that word is 
"embezzler." 

11. Where Will You Be at 65? 

Forty years work tremendous changes in the average 
human life. Out of every 100 men at the age of 25, pro- 
vided they are in good health, forty years see 36 of them 
die; 1 become rich; 4 become well-to-do; 5 self-support- 



WHET-STONES 125 

ing through hard work, and 54 dependent upon relatives, 
friends or charity. This information is derived from 
statistics. It is a decidedly gloomy prospect. One good 
way to make sure of your standing at the end of 40 
years is to take a policy in a good society. In old age 
its withdrawal value may make you independent. 

12. Engagement Rings and Insurance 

When a couple become engaged it is customary for the 
young man to buy and present an engagement ring to 
his fiancee. It is a beautiful custom, although it is not 
always practiced. Although it is not essential and does 
not make the engagement more binding legally, the ring 
frequently makes the parties take their pledges more 
seriously. The ring often makes a clinching appeal to 
the prospective bride. We have known of cases where 
fiancees derived extreme pleasure from flashing a Y\ 
carat diamond ring before the eyes of envious relatives 
and friends. This is merely a matter of sentiment. 

But there can be sense as well as sentiment in be- 
trothal agreements. The future security of the young 
lady is a matter of much more real importance than her 
pride. An insurance policy should be a part of the 
foundation upon which every youthful household rests. 
The day will come when life insurance will be just as 
customary as engagement rings. Then sense and senti- 
ment, security and pride will lock arms and walk down 
life's pathway together. 

13. A Multiplicity of Losses 

Whenever the head of a household passes away there 
is in effect a quadruple death. 1. The man. 2. The 
husband. 3. The father. 4 The income from wages 
or salary. 



126 WHET-STONES 

Death always means a loss, financial and otherwise. 
Society in general sustains the loss of the man and re- 
places him. The widow suffers the loss of her husband. 
This loss may or may not be replaced in time. The chil- 
dren suffer the loss of their father, which is irreparable. 
The widow and children primarily suffer the loss of sal- 
ary or wage income. Here is where life insurance steps 
in, lifts the financial loss from the shoulders of the grief- 
stricken family and performs a real rescue act that is 
one of the proudest boasts of a cultured civilization. 
The chief business of fraternal beneficiary societies is 
the performance of work of this kind. 

14. "Whatters" 

Do you know what a "Whatter" is? Did you ever 
meet one? Let us illustrate. We say to one of them, 
"It is a fine spring day." He immediately says, "What?" 
We say to him, "There is a fly in your coffee." He says 
"What?" We slip him the information that the 
Society is writing a lot of new business. "What?" We 
invite him to come out to the next lodge meeting. 
"What?" We suggest that it would be a most becom- 
ing act for him to get a new member. "What?" Such 
a person is the Whatter. He never gets anything the 
first time round. In baseball parlance he always lets 
the first ball pass him. On the second ball he fouls out 
and goes to the bench. The "Whatter" never makes a 
hit. 

15. The One Sure Way 

If some one should solemnly inform you that he is 
today living upon the food that he ate six months ago 
you would laugh at him. Your laugh would be long 
and raucous. It would be what we call a "horse laugh." 



WHET-STONES 127 

He couldn't jam that kind of rot down your mental 
gullet. You know better. You know that any person, 
in order to live and to keep in fit condition for work, 
must have a regular daily amount of food. Feeding is 
practically a continuous process. 

Occasionally people try to impress you with the fact 
that they are well educated. They tell you about the 
schooling they have had, about the books they have 
read, about the worth-while people with whom they 
have mingled. All this is in the past. When you ask 
them what they are doing in the present their story takes 
a new turn. They are no longer going to school. They 
are not reading any books. They are not associating 
very much with people who can benefit them. You 
know exactly how to classify such people. Mentally 
they are retrograding. They are dying at the top, just 
like the great oak tree whose nourishment has for some 
reason been cut down below the normal amount re- 
quired. Mental growth and progress, as well as physical 
growth and progress, are practically a continuous proc- 
ess. The human mind cannot thrive on a starvation diet. 

Some people make no provision, or insufficient pro- 
vision, for their dependents. They say, "Let them hustle 
for themselves;" "The Lord will provide a way;" or 
"My estate will take care of them." To realize and 
know just how anemic such provisions are take your 
own situation into consideration. After you die, your 
widow and children cannot continue to live upon the 
wages, salary or income that you earned and spent in 
the past. That's as plain as a wart on the end of a man's 
nose. Wages, salary and, in all probability, your income 
will cease with your death. Through self-denial and 
frugality you may have accumulated an estate. There 
are only about five chances in a hundred that it will be 



128 WHET-STONES 

sufficient to enable them to live in the manner to which 
they are accustomed. Your estate may shrink terribly 
after your death. As a general rule estate's do that very 
thing. There will be debts that your estate must pay. 
They must be met with cash. Then there are state and 
federal inheritance taxes. They must be paid with cold 
cash. Within the past three years a large western estate 
valued at $40,000,000 and consisting of land, became in- 
solvent in the effort to raise enough ready cash to pay 
inheritance taxes, debts and costs of administration. 
There were few better money makers, few better money 
savers, and few more far-sighted men than F. W. Wool- 
worth of five and ten-cent store fame; yet, after his 
death, a mortgage of $3,000,000 had to be placed upon the 
great Woolworth Building in New York to raise money 
enough to pay inheritance taxes. In proportion to their 
size small estates are usually harder hit by debts and 
taxes than are larger ones. There is one way, and only 
one, to protect estates against debts, taxes, etc. That is 
through the medium of life insurance. 

But all this may be of no personal interest to you. 
You may know that you will not leave an estate. If you 
are not going to leave any considerable estate, there is 
only one way in which you can continue your wages, 
salary or income after your death; only one way in which 
you can guarantee to your family their necessary food, 
clothing and shelter; only one way in which you can 
save your wife, your boys and your girls from traveling 
the horrible road to poverty. That is through the me- 
dium of life insurance. Now is the time to make that 
provision. Next year, next month or next week may 
be too late. In several thousand cases tomorrow will 
be too late. Today is the day of all days for this high 
and holy purpose. 



WHET-STONES 129 

16. Honest Injun! 

This is a little talk to the man who carries $1,000 of 
life insurance. You have a wife and kiddies. Your 
insurance will just about pay medical and funeral ex- 
penses. You believe in insuring for the doctor and the 
undertaker. Don't you believe in insuring for the wife 
and kiddies? Don't you have more respect and love for 
them than you have for ordinary creditors? You carry 
$1,000. You pay for $1,000. You should carry $10,000. 
Who pays for the other $9,000 that you should carry, but 
don't? Why, the wife and kiddies pay for it. It is even 
worse than that. They will have to go out into the world 
and earn that amount after you have gone. They will 
have to make good the amount that you have morally 
embezzled from them. Are their shoulders strong 
enough to bear the burden? Do you want them to carry 
that heavy load? Think it over. 

17. Somebody Pays 

A man or woman who earns something over and above 
his own keep is an asset to the world to the extent of 
his excess earnings. Every breadwinner is, therefore, 
an asset. Now some kinds of assets can be destroyed 
by fire, flood, earthquake or cyclone. Some kinds can 
be lost through robbery, theft, carelessness or accident. 
Earning capacity, as an asset, can be destroyed by dis- 
ability or death. 

Every loss falls upon somebody's shoulders. There 
isn't a single exception beneath the sun, moon and stars. 
The loss of earning capacity may fall upon the frail 
widow and minor children. To make good the loss they 
may go without comfortable shelter, without decent 
clothing, without sufficient food, without an education 



130 WHET-STONES 

and without favorable opportunities. Even worse than 
this, dependents may be thrown upon public charity. 
In that case the community shoulders the loss. Did you 
ever observe the difference between a good home on the 
one hand and an orphanage, a poor farm, or an alms- 
house on the other? Mr. Breadwinner, place the loss 
squarely on the strong, wide shoulders of a husky frater- 
nal society. That's where such losses properly belong. 
Such a society is built solely for the purpose of meeting 
losses of that kind. 

18. Your Insurance Policy Will Stand 

You may work hard all your life. By practicing self- 
denial and frugality you may accumulate a comfortable 
fortune. While still alive you may make a will. After 
your death any crackbrained heir may contest its legal- 
ity. If the will be broken, your carefully laid plans will 
be defeated. Even if your will stands, costs and depre- 
ciation will probably eat up enough of your estate to 
thwart your purposes. 

A life insurance policy in a good society is not subject 
to such attack. Its proceeds cannot be reached by legal 
process either for your debts or for those of your bene- 
ficiary. Depreciation cannot cause a shrinkage in its 
value because the policy is worth its face amount in good 
hard cash. This is a difference well worth your con- 
sideration, provided you consider it at the right time. 

19. Is There a Shrinkage in Estates? 

When the elder Stillman died he left an estate valued 
at more than $40,000,000. Inheritance taxes, income 
taxes, state taxes and cost of administration amounted to 
$16,000,000. This enormous sum had to be paid in cash. 
The Frick estate was much harder hit than was the 



WHET-STONES 131 

Stillman estate. This was because of the tremendous 
shrinkage in the value of stocks and bonds owned by 
Mr. Frick at the time of his death. We could cite cases 
almost innumerable. 

In proportion to their size small estates are much 
harder hit by taxes, administration costs and deprecia- 
tion than are large estates. Ask the judge or clerk of 
any probate court. After thousands of years man has 
been able to discover and to provide just one sure means 
of avoiding shrinkage of estates. Life insurance af- 
fords that one effective means. It is impossible to im- 
press this all-important fact too strongly upon the minds 
of men and women who work, sweat and save to leave 
something for their heirs and dependents. 

20. The Majority Do Not Stick 

From a recent report made by one of our best so- 
cieties we gather the following facts: 17 years ago that 
society had 362,385 members. On Jan. 1, 1921, just 125,- 
000 of those members were still in good standing. Dur- 
ing the 17 years the society wrote 533,721 members; 182,- 
030 of those members are still with the society; 351,691 
of them are gone. In the 17 years 52,863 members died. 
The total number lost by suspension was 536,213 mem- 
bers. Out of the grand total of 896,106 members only 
307,030 are left; 5.9% of the total number died; 60% 
of the total number lapsed. That leaves 34.1% of the 
total number in good standing the first of this year. 
The loss by lapse is startling. It is an enormous waste. 
Probably 100,000 of the lapsed members are dead. That 
is a frightful loss to beneficiaries. We doubt if any 
other society or any old line company could make any 
better showing. These figures are a woeful commentary 



132 WHET-STONES 

upon the thriftlessness, the wastefulness, the negligence 
and the misfortune of human beings. The fact is that 
the majority of people are not stickers. They will not 
see things through. This is due to inherent weakness 
and lack of systematic training. They simply haven't 
the ability to visualize the future. 

21. Today's the Time 

You may wait until you are on your deathbed before 
you make your will. If you want to leave any life 
insurance you must get the policy long before that day. 
Today's the time. Even tomorrow may be too late. 

22. Some Half Century Developments 

Go back 115 years and you run into the period of sail- 
ing vessels. The steamboat had not been invented. Go 
back 90 years and you enter the era of the stage coach, 
the pony express and the prairie schooner. There were 
no railroads. Go back 80 years and you won't find a 
single old line company in existence in the western hemi- 
sphere. Back up 55 years and you can't discover a fra- 
ternal beneficiary society anywhere on earth. In 1876 
the telephone was but a toy. In 1878 the typewriter was 
a crude mechanism. In 1879 Edison produced the first 
incandescent light. In 1890 electric cars were a novelty 
and the phonograph a curiosity. In 1895 the automobile 
was a buggy with a one or two lung gasoline attachment. 
In 1896 the moving picture was an experiment. Twenty 
years ago flying machines were unknown. Millions of 
people are employed today in lines that did not exist 
50 or 100 years ago. Fifty billions of life insurance is in 
force where there was not a dollar in force 80 years ago. 
What will the next 50 years or 100 years bring forth? 



WHET-STONES 133 

There is an unlimited field in which your imagination 
may extend itself to your heart's content. 

23. An Artistic View 

One day last summer a fraternal salesman, acting 
upon a suggestion that he saw in an insurance journal, 
pulled a brand new stunt. 

This salesman was invited into a home to await the 
return of the breadwinner. Upon introducing himself 
the good housewife asked in a cold, disinterested and 
half-insinuating tone, "Are you selling life insurance, 
Mr. Wottowa?" "No, Mrs. Jacobs," said Mr. Wottowa, 
"I am offering a guarantee to do in the future just what 
your good husband is doing now. He furnishes you and 
the children with a comfortable, well-furnished home. 
He provides three good square meals a day. He sees to 
it that you and the children have nice clothes to wear. 
He makes it possible for your boys and girls to go to 
school, thereby assuring them of a first class opportunity 
in life. He sends them around the corner to a good 
movie once or twice a week. In the evenings and on 
holidays he piles all of you into the flivver for a drive 
around town, through the park, out into the country or 
to some favorite picnic ground. These things make the 
grass greener, the flowers sweeter and life happier for 
you. As long as Mr. Jacobs is alive and well you won't 
need our guarantee. But life is uncertain. None of us 
knows what the future has in store for us. Should you 
by any chance lose your husband our guarantee will 
step right up, take his place and supply you in the future 
all these comforts and necessities which he generously 
provides for you now." 

"My! Mr. Wottowa, you give me a new view of life. 
I want to apologize to you for the way I spoke at first. 



134 WHET-STONES 

Here comes Mr. Jacobs and I want you to persuade him 
to take one of those guarantees." 
Mr. Jacobs did. 

24. The Elastic Fraternal Plan 

In all financial arrangements elasticity is preferable to 
rigidity. That is the reason the law allows days of grace 
in the payment of notes, life insurance premiums and 
other financial obligations. The old National Banking 
Law was rigid and resulted in financial panics. The new 
Federal Reserve Banking Law is elastic and avoids panics. 
The tendency of the times is away from rigidity and 
towards elasticity. 

Fraternal societies write an open contract. Their 
premiums or assessments are upon an elastic basis. Old 
line companies write closed contracts. Their premiums 
are upon a rigid basis. For a generation we have heard 
this feature of old line insurance extolled to the skies. 
It has been constantly flaunted in the face of an undis- 
cerning and undiscriminating public as the one great 
mark of superiority over all other kinds of life insurance. 
It has been touted as the policy-holder's great bulwark 
of safety. 

Now, what is the real truth? An illustration will clarify 
the situation. At age 35 an old line company charges a 
net rate of $19.91 per $1,000; an adequate rate fraternal 
society charges a net rate of $16.62. Here is a difference 
of $3.29. The old line company has that much more 
money as a margin of safety for the payment of death 
claims. Under normal conditions the old line company, 
or the adequate rate fraternal, will have more than enough 
to meet actual claims. The fraternal society, of course, 
has the narrower margin of safety. 



WHET-STONES 135 

But suppose death losses, following an epidemic, or 
depreciation of securities in times of financial depression 
more than swallow up the "margin of safety" in an old 
line company and in a fraternal society. What happens? 
The old line company will draw upon its surplus. When 
the surplus is exhausted the old line company will either 
reinsure or go into a receiver's hands. A receivership 
is sometimes terminated by liquidation but more often by 
reinsurance. 

In the event of liquidation, who loses? The policy- 
holders, of course. In case of a reserve deficit, followed 
by reinsurance, who makes up the deficit? The indi- 
vidual policyholders make it up. If there are receiver- 
ship proceedings, there are receivership costs. Such 
costs are always heavy. Who makes good these receiver- 
ship costs? The individual policyholders foot the bill. 
We have a friend who took a policy in an old line com- 
pany some 10 years ago. The management juggled the 
reserves, the securities, the capital stock and about every- 
thing else that could be juggled. It was thrown into the 
hands of a receiver. After a time the business was re- 
insured in another company. Under the terms of rein- 
surance a reserve lien, drawing 5 per cent compound 
interest annually, was placed against our friend's policy. 
Other policyholders drew similar liens. Every year our 
friend pays the premium for a $5,000 policy. Every year, 
also, the interest-bearing reserve lien eats a still bigger 
hole in the amount of his policy. The longer he lives 
and the more premiums he pays, the smaller will become 
the net amount of his policy. Has the old line company's 
guarantee to this policyholder failed? It looks that way 
to a man sitting in the judge's stand. Who makes good 
the broken guarantee? Our friend, the policyholder, 
has that pleasure. So have the other policyholders. 



136 WHET-STONES 

There are untold thousands of policyholders in America 
today who are in the position of our friend. Under such 
circumstances the closed contract, — closed as to the 
amount of premium but not as to the amount of insur- 
ance, — does not appear to be clearly entitled to all the 
advantages claimed for it. As a "bulwark of safety" to 
the policyholder, "guaranteed premiums" seem to par- 
take very largely of the nature of a mirage. 

In an adequate rate fraternal the mode of operation is 
quite different. The management ascertains the amount 
of impairment or deficit caused by the excess or abnormal 
death-rate. Under the law this deficit can be equitably 
apportioned among the members and collected in one 
special assessment or in a number of smaller special 
assessments. There is no situation which forces a re- 
ceivership to be followed by reinsurance and heavy court 
costs. Nor need there be a reinsurance or merger to 
avoid a receivership. There is no lien placed against any 
member's policy, and the full benefit is preserved for the 
beneficiary. After the emergency is met normal condi- 
tions will be restored. 

Which plan is the more elastic? Which is more busi- 
ness-like? Which more nearly comports to common- 
sense methods? Which is more desirable? We leave it 
to you. 

Before we leave this subject let us ask you if you know 
how many old line companies in this country have re- 
tired from business? You ought to know. Some of your 
prospects may ask you for such information. Circum- 
stances may arise whereby it will be to your advantage 
to know the truth and to tell it. The Insurance Year 
Book for 1911, published by the Spectator Company, of 
New York, under the general head, "Retired American 
Life Insurance Companies," gives a list of 240 companies. 



WHET-STONES 137 

This list is presumed to be complete up to the end of 
1910. The list may be found on page 327, 328 and 329 of 
that volume. The Unique Manual-Digest for 1921, pub- 
lished by the National Underwriter Company, of Cincin- 
nati, under the general head, "Companies Retired Since 
1910," gives a list of 141 companies. This list may be 
found on four unnumbered pages just ahead of page 1 in 
that volume. The combined total is 381 companies. 

We do not advise salesmen to attack old line companies 
or the old line system of life insurance without provoca- 
tion. However, when some old line agent tries to ride 
down your society in particular and the fraternal bene- 
ficiary system in general with the claim that old line 
companies are immaculate and invulnerable, the situation 
is altered. Sometimes tactics are permissible in rebuttal 
that would not be advisable in the first instance. The 
truth, well told, frequently has a strangely sobering 
effect upon an obstreperous competitor. 

25. Life Insurance Is Not a Gamble 

Life insurance is a common sense method of capitaliz- 
ing an individual's future earning power. Considered 
abstractly, such insurance is in some respects similar to 
a game of chance. There is, however, a fundamental dis- 
tinction that entirely eliminates from the business of life 
insurance the odium of gambling. 

When a man gambles, he risks a sum of money, or its 
equivalent, in the hope that chance will bring him a re- 
latively large return. He has no personal interest in the 
factors which decide the event, except the hope that 
chance will favor him. He wins or loses the coveted 
"stake" according as chance favors him or turns against 
him. He becomes personally just so much richer or 
poorer, depending upon whether he wins or loses. 



138 WHET-STONES 

Life insurance is a different matter. It is true that the 
insured risks a relatively small sum, his monthly or other 
payments, on the chance of his death occasioning the pay- 
ment of a much larger sum. But his own death he cer- 
tainly does not wish to happen, even though it be the de- 
termining factor. If his death, the determining factor, 
does occur the larger sum of money does not come to 
him. It goes to his estate or to his dependents. In these 
two respects, therefore, life insurance is basically different 
from a gambling proposition. 

26. Life Insurance an Exact Science 

All kinds of insurance are based upon the law of prob- 
abilities. Life insurance offers the most tangible basis 
for contracts providing for indemnity or financial bene- 
fits. In fire insurance indemnity is payable only in case 
the property burns. In storm, earthquake or flood in- 
surance indemnity is payable in the event that the prop- 
erty is damaged or destroyed by storm, earthquake or 
flood, as the case may be. In marine insurance indemnity 
is payable only upon the occurrence of damage or de- 
struction of the vessel. In the case of sickness or acci- 
dent insurance the payment of benefits depends upon the 
occurrence either of sickness or accident. It is very 
readily apparent that a fire may never occur — for all 
buildings do not burn. Storms, earthquakes or floods 
may never come. A vessel may never be destroyed at 
sea. Sickness or accident, insured against, may never 
visit the insured. The happening of all such contingencies 
is probable but not certain. 

Life insurance provides for indemnity or benefits at 
death. Death is a certainty. The element to be decided 
by the law of probabilities is not the fact of death but 
the probable time of its occurrence. The question in fire 



WHET-STONES 139 

insurance is, "Will the property burn?" The question in 
marine insurance is, "Will the vessel be damaged or 
destroyed?" The question in accident insurance is, "Will 
the accident occur to the insured?" But in life insurance 
the question is not, "Will the insured die?"; it is, "How 
soon will the insured die?" 

It is well known that all men must die. Select bodies 
of men, kept under close observation throughout life, 
have led to the discovery of the probable rate of death. 
Through this means mortality tables have been con- 
structed and insurance rates established, which for all 
practical purposes make life insurance an exact science. 

27. Yes, Our Lodges Will Come Back 

Some of the brethren in fraternal managerial circles 
seem greatly depressed because of the apparently defunct 
condition of so many of the local lodges in our various 
societies. They are splattering great gobs of melancholy 
and pessimism all over the fair escutcheon of fraternity. 
Courage, patience and optimism, gentlemen. These 
should be our watchwords. The man who gives up is 
irretrievably lost. The man who hangs on and sticks 
to the finish may win out even if he has only one chance 
in a thousand. Remember Robert Bruce and the spider. 
Keep in mind the trials and courage of Minor C. Keith, 
who built one bridge across the Matina River thirty-two 
times before he had one that would stand. The fraternal 
system has been shocked near unto death. Readjustment 
has been a veritable cataclysm in our midst. It has 
decimated our ranks. The fraternal pulse and the fra- 
ternal heart beat run very low among the members who 
have kept the faith. Enthusiasm and loyalty, the twin 
spirits that led to great activity in the years gone by, 
are dreadfully anemic. The spirit of the fraternal 



140 WHET-STONES 

crusader is much emaciated, but it is not dead. It can 
be restored to full life and vigor. We believe that it will 
be so restored. Time is the greatest of all healers. Prop- 
er restoratives will greatly hasten the healing process. 

Don't become discouraged, gentlemen, because you 
have tried a few remedies that have failed. Try others. 
Keep trying until you succeed. Faith and work will 
remove mountains, provided it be the right kind of faith 
and work. The same combination will rebuild our local 
lodges and will revive in them the enthusiasm, loyalty 
and activity that characterized them in the days of old. 
Don't give up. Keep eternally at it and you will win in 
the end. 

28. Personal Service Counts 

People naturally like courteous attention. Herein lies 
the secret of building up and retaining business. Such 
attention on the part of fieldworkers and local secretaries 
helps to hold members and very greatly reduces lapsation. 
The recipient of considerate attention reciprocates with 
good will. Good will, in turn, stabilizes and makes for 
the permanency of a membership. It also furnishes the 
best foundation for future business. 

Little services, cheerfully rendered, are highly pleasing 
to your members. A willingness to accommodate is de- 
cidedly gratifying to the recipient. The average person 
appreciates little things far more than you think. It has 
been well said, "take care of the pennies and the dollars 
will take care of themselves." In like measure if you 
take care of little things, big things will naturally follow. 
The largest building is made up of many small parts, 
each relatively unimportant in itself. But in the con- 
structed whole, each part is essential and serves a pur- 
pose. So in every successful business there is an almost 



WHET-STONES 141 

endless detail, but every detail contributes to the whole. 
Not the least important of these details are the countless 
personal services rendered to the customers or patrons 
of the business. 

Fraternal life insurance is a business. It is fully amen- 
able to the rules and underlying principles of business. 
Personal service, properly rendered, secures members and 
holds them. Such service secures the friendship, good 
will and active co-operation of others. These are little 
things in themselves, one may say, but they contribute 
immeasurably to success. 

29. Plain Courtesy 

Courtesy is a developed trait. It can be made a marked 
characteristic of an individual or of an institution. Cour- 
tesy in the home will avoid 90% of the little troubles 
which sometimes break lives and 99% of the big ones 
which invariably break lives. Courtesy is the solid rock 
upon which every home can be safely and securely 
founded. 

Next to proper financing courtesy is the one great 
asset in business. It builds up a business and pays 
enormous dividends. If the clerks in a store are cross, 
ill-mannered or indifferent we take our trade elsewhere. 
We don't like to transact business with discourteous 
people and we won't do it if we can find any way to 
avoid it. All successful business men, the managers of 
every successful business institution know the value of 
courtesy. They know that it has contributed very, very 
largely to their success. 

Courtesy is founded upon our mental attitude towards 
the rest of the world. It is the common sense recognition 
of the rights and feelings of others. It draws others 
towards us, it attaches them to us, it makes them amen- 



142 WHET-STONES 

able to our will. Courtesy costs us nothing and money 
cannot buy it but it will surely carry us to the land 
of the golden fleece. 

30. Let's Know Each Other Better 

During the past 20 years we have attended most of the 
sessions of the National Fraternal Congress, of the Asso- 
ciated Fraternities of America and of the American Fra- 
ternal Congress. We never participated actively in the 
discussions of either body. On many occasions we have 
heard unseemly clashes and witnessed small-bore tactics 
that none of us would tolerate for a moment in a local 
lodge hall. We have observed the origin and growth of 
bitter personal animosities, that have poisoned and all 
but ruined the lives and usefulness of men and women 
who are naturally admirable in almost every respect. 

Enmity has a deadly recoil. It eventually consumes 
and destroys the mind and body wherein it dwells. There 
are great cannon, with a recoil mechanism of springs. 
Every shot slightly impairs this recoil mechanism. After 
twenty or thirty shots the impairment is so great that 
the gun is no longer accurate. It becomes useless and 
must be scrapped. The great French 75 has a com- 
pressed air recoil mechanism. After any number of shots 
this mechanism is in just as good condition as it was at 
first. That is the kind of recoil mechanism that every 
fraternal manager needs. If we indulge in revengeful 
attacks and persist in rancorous thoughts our system 
does not and can not supply anything but a recoil mech- 
anism of springs. If we avoid these things the body 
furnishes a recoil mechanism that will last any length of 
time. We shall expand in mentality, increase in effi- 
ciency and grow in usefulness to the very end of life. 
During that 20 years we have hovered much around 



WHET-STONES 143 

the outskirts of the sessions. In the hotel corridors and 
lobbies we have heard some of the most bitter criticisms 
and most vicious attacks. They were usually uncalled 
for and frequently based upon false premises. Some of 
the things we have heard would not look well in print. 
Many of them could not be put into print without violat- 
ing both the criminal and the moral law. In our opinion 
we have, in the past, sowed too many seed and garnered 
too many harvests of wild prejudices, mental snobbery 
and unfraternal bigotry. 

We have frequently been asked if the fraternal insur- 
ance game is a respectable business. Rank outsiders 
observe that a great many representatives of fraternal 
societies neither have respect nor show respect for other 
societies or for the representatives of other societies. 
Men and women who do not have respect for others and 
who do not show respect to others can not have a whole- 
some degree of respect for themselves. We can not rea- 
sonably expect the outside world to respect us and our 
business unless we show unmistakably that we respect 
our societies and each other. It is high time that the 
tares of unfraternalism were uprooted. 

It is true that progress results from conflict. Our so- 
cieties have traveled far upon the highway of progress 
within the last 20 years. But while conflict may result 
in lasting benefit to our societies as a whole, this benefit 
is made at the expense of the individual. That is Nature's 
cruel method. The individual suffers or dies that the 
species may survive. We prune branches off a bush or 
tree that the remaining branches may become larger and 
thriftier. We pluck some of the fruit from a vine that 
the remaining fruit may be larger and of better quality. 

But man can improve upon or extend Nature's method. 
He has done so to a surprising extent and in manifold 



144 WHET-STONES 

ways. Progress can result from harmony as well as 
from conflict. However, it must be active, intelligent 
harmony and not the harmony of inertia. We are not at 
all sure but that such harmony as we have had has pro- 
duced most of our progress during the last 20 years. 
We have had much conflict, but we have also had a great 
deal of harmony. 

The fraternal life insurance business is respectable. 
It is eminently respectable. With every forward step 
it becomes more respectable. Don't have any doubt on 
that score. Some of the grandest men and women who 
ever lived are devoting their lives to these societies. 
Would you look for heroes? You can find them as 
numerous in the ranks of fraternalism as in any other 
business or profession. Would you search for intellectual 
giants? They are there to be found. Would you gaze 
upon great leaders, trained executives, expert salesmen? 
Look for them and you will surely find them. Some of 
the best blood that ever flowed in human veins is today 
moulding the fraternal societies of America in the great 
crucible of time. 

All of us suffer from a severe handicap. We are ac- 
quainted with many fraternal managers and salesmen 
but we really know a few — a very few. We are traveling 
in low speed. Much of our power is either wasted or 
unutilized. We should shift our gears and go into high 
speed. We should know our fellow-workers in the vine- 
yard of fraternity. We should know them intimately. 
We should inform ourselves of their early advantages 
and disadvantages, of their trials and tribulations, of their 
achievements, of their victories and defeats. Then real 
men and women will stand before our minds in concrete 
form. Our sympathies will go out to them. Our respect 
will be accorded them. Our hand will be extended to 



WHET-STONES 145 

them in genuine friendliness. Our hats will come off 
in their honor. Our tongues will cleave to the roof of 
our mouths before we will permit ourselves to besmirch 
some of the noblest works of God. 

About a year ago we undertook a new venture. We 
undertook to write each month the biography of some 
great fraternal leader of the present time. These biog- 
raphies appear each month in the Fraternal Monitor 
under the head, "Builders of Fraternalism in America." 
Thus far we have written the biographies of 



1. 


Mr. Abb Landis. 


2. 


Mr. C. B. Gardner. 


3. 


Miss Bina M. West. 


4. 


Mr. A. L. Hereford. 


5. 


Dr. V. A. Young. 


6. 


Miss Kate Mahoney. 


7. 


Mr. H. L. Green. 


8. 


Mrs. Frances Buel Olson. 


9. 


Mr. Henri Roy. 


10. 


Capt. C. H. Robinson. 


11. 


Mrs. Mary E. La Rocca. 


12. 


Mr. C. E. Piper. 



If the name of a well known and highly deserving 
leader in your own society does not appear upon the 
above list, there is just one reason for it. We can reach 
only one each month. There are about 150 names on 
our list. It will require eleven years yet to reach them 
all. We wish we could write about all of them at once 
but that is manifestly impossible. Each month we draw 
out one name by lot. The person whose name is drawn 
out is the one whose biography appears next. The 
order in which the biographies appear has no important 
significance. 



146 WHET-STONES 

About six months ago we started a second series of 
biographies. These will be written about the "old 
timers." There will be some 40 or 50 of them. These 
biographies appear each month in the Western Review 
under the title, "Pioneer Builders of Fraternalism in 
America." Thus far we have written the biographies of 

1. Mr. John Jordan Upchurch. 

2. Mr. William Washington Walker. 

3. Mr. Leroy Andrus. 

4. Mr. Myron Ward Sackett. 

5. Dr. Darius Wilson. 

If you have read any of these biographies, we would 
like an occasional word from you about them. If you 
like them, well and good. If you think you can make 
some suggestion for their improvement, by all means 
do so. Possibly you can furnish us some valuable in- 
formation about some past or present fraternal leader. 
It will be most highly appreciated. No matter whether 
or no we are personally acquainted; no matter what so- 
ciety you work with or for; no matter who you are; 
we want you to feel that we are your friend and that we 
wish you to be our friend. We are co-workers in the 
great field of fraternity. That is an all sufficing tie. 

Our sole object in writing these biographies is to pro- 
mote the ever growing and ever widening interests of 
fraternalism. We shall never begrudge the labor if it 
will only advance the cause. 

We want to see the day when fraternal societies will 
have more insurance in force in America than the old 
Hne companies have. This is not an overtowering ambi- 
tion. Neither is it an unreasonable hope. These so- 
cieties are the institutions of the people and they deserve 
the unanimous and unwavering support of the people. 



WHET-STONES 147 

Intelligent co-operation works the greatest miracles in 
this world. 

Will these biographies ever appear in book form? We 
are frequently asked this question. It is as yet too early 
to give an intelligent answer to it. All we can say is 
that the ultimate decision will depend upon the wishes of 
the fraternalists of America. 

31. An All Right "Ism" 

The world is full of isms. Some of them are political, 
some religious, some industrial. Most of them are radical. 
Many of them are revolutionary and some are utterly 
destructive. As a general rule, isms will not fit into the 
practical affairs of this world. 

Optimism is an exception to the rule. This ism is a 
positive force for good. It is a master-builder. Above 
all it is highly contagious. Sunlight gives warmth and 
energy to animal and vegetable life. In a similar manner 
optimism revives flagging zeal, braces up drooping spirits 
and renews courage. It is a vitalizing force. All frater- 
nal societies are in great need of more optimists. The 
world wants more optimists. If you are an optimist 
come out in the open. Let your light shine. Infect as 
many people as you can with the spirit of optimism. 

Pessimism is the direct opposite of optimism. It is a 
joy killer — a gloom dispenser. It is also highly conta- 
gious. It is a destructive force. It destroys enthusiasm, 
breaks down the will to do and blasts hope. If you 
are a pessimist, go away back and sit down. We won't 
say "crawl in your hole and die," for then your society 
would have to pay your claim. That would be another 
burden foisted upon the optimists. 



148 WHET-STONES 

32. The Interest Rate Is Low 

Have you borrowed any money lately? What rate oi 
interest did you have to pay? Close to the maximum 
legal limit, wasn't it? 

We hope you are not one of those birds who claim 
that life insurance rates are too high. At age 20, for a 
$1,000 Whole Life Policy, you would pay a good society 
an Annual Rate equal to 1.35%; at age 35, you would pay 
2%; at age 50, you would pay 2>y 2 %, and at age 60 you 
would pay 5.7%. When you take this kind of a slant 
at the proposition the cost of life insurance doesn't appear 
so high after all. 

33. Man Improves On Nature 

Eighteen years ago Luther Burbank, that great wizard 
in plant life, undertook to develop corn from the wild 
teosinte grass. Scientists have long considered that grass 
as the probable ancestor of Indian maize or corn. Mr. 
Burbank has verified the supposition of science. In 18 
years he has performed what probably took the Indian 
hundreds or thousands of years to accomplish. His 
goal was in sight. He traveled over a well-known road. 
He employed superior methods of plant culture. The 
Indian knew not his goal; he traveled over an unknown 
road; he employed crude plant-breeding methods. 

Wild teosinte grass has no rachis, or cob, like other 
grains. One kernel is piled on the next below. Each 
grain has a separate sheath or shuck like grains of wheat 
have. When ripe the sheath opens and the kernel or 
grain falls out. Gradually Mr. Burbank developed first 
a rachis, then a flat cob and finally a round cob. The 
sheath or shuck for each grain gradually disappeared, 
evidently being absorbed by the cob. From two rows 



WHET-STONES 149 

of grain there was an increase to four rows, then to six, 
then to eight and finally to fourteen. Thus was the 
plant miracle performed. 

Out of the wild but fertile imagination of John Jordan 
Upchurch sprang that variety of human institution known 
as the fraternal beneficiary society. It was a new species. 
It was a rapid grower and its fruit was luscious. It was 
many years before the discovery was made that the new 
species could be greatly improved, enlarged and stand- 
ardized. It was virtually a wild plant. During the same 
18 years that Mr. Burbank was developing corn from 
teosinte grass the wizards of fraternalism have performed 
a much more wonderful work in developing the modern 
100 per cent fraternal beneficiary society. 

Corn has the great advantage of an earlier start but, 
in the long run, fraternal beneficiary societies will be 
infinitely the greater blessing to mankind. 

34. The Higher Wage Level 

You have a hazy notion, perhaps, that the general 
level of wages and salaries has something to do with the 
demand for, and sale of, life insurance. If you have such 
an idea, you may rest assured that it is absolutely cor- 
rect. Let us give you a fleeting, bird's eye view of wages 
in this country during the past 290 years. 

From 1633 to about 1770 common laborers and farm 
workers received 25c per day. Just before the Revolu- 
tion such wages rose to 33^c per day. By the end of 
that war such wages still further increased to 42^c per 
day. At the close of the American Revolution there 
were not as many as half a dozen artisans in the United 
States, who were making as much as $1 a day. Skilled 
carpenters were paid less than 60c a day in 1790; about 
70c a day in 1800; $1.09, in 1810; $1.13, in 1820 and about 



150 WHET-STONES 

$1.40 per day from 1840 to 1860. In 1790 the wages of 
laborers, generally, was 43c a day; from 1810 to 1820 
such wages increased to 82c per day. In this group may 
be included farm laborers, printers, cotton and woolen 
workers, black-smiths, wagon-makers, cabinet-workers, 
etc. 

How would you like to have organized an adequate 
rate fraternal society in those days? You could not 
even have established a society upon the lowest inade- 
quate rate known to fraternal history. Squeezing blood 
out of a turnip would have been an easy job in compari- 
son. The people didn't have the money. That would 
have been a poor day even for the "tin lizzie." 

The factory system was inaugurated about 1790. This 
system developed rather slowly, but it enabled labor to 
become more skillful and more productive. This re- 
sulted in a gradual increase in the general level of wages. 
In 1831 farm laborers were paid from 57^c to $1 per 
day, without "board and washing." Carpenters received 
about $1.13 a day, as stated above. Black-smiths were 
paid from $1 to $1.25 per day. Brick and stone masons 
received $1.26 per day. The Civil War gave quite an 
impetus to wages. At the close of that war the general 
level of wages was considerably higher than it was in 
1860. On the heels of the Civil War our first fraternal 
beneficiary society was organized. In the course of 30 
years many similar societies were launched. All were 
based upon very low rates. It is extremely doubtful if 
an adequate rate society could have lived at any time 
during the 19th century. In making this statement we 
are cognizant of the fact that wages in nearly every 
occupation more than doubled between 1873 and 1900. 
This general increase in wages had a tremendous effect 
upon the growth of our fraternal societies. We feel 



WHET-STONES 151 

fully justified in making the statement that there is a 
vital relation between the wage-level and life insurance. 

Since 1900 the general trend of wages has been upward. 
One of the effects of the World War was to increase 
wages enormously. A corresponding increase was ef- 
fected in the sale of life insurance. Carpenters, black- 
smiths and other wage-and-salary workers make as much 
in an hour today as they made in a whole day 60 years 
ago. Their horizon has lifted; their standard of living 
has vastly improved; their wants have multiplied and 
their buying power has tremendously increased. Wage- 
earners and people on salary look upon life insurance as 
a modern necessity. In their estimation it stands in the 
same category with bread and butter, clothes, education 
and the home. Very, very often life insurance is con- 
verted into these other absolutely basic necessities. 

Not only do the working people want life insurance, 
but they want the best and safest life insurance that 
money can buy. They very greatly prefer limited pay- 
ment policies or certificates. Every society that writes 
limited payment insurance will bear witness to the truth 
of the above statement. Life insurance has just entered 
its golden age. This new era is the first born child of 
the higher wage level. 

35. The Fraternal Crusade 

Lieut-Col. A. H. Gansser, of Michigan, participated 
actively throughout the American advance through the 
Argonne. From one of his look-out posts he gave General 
Pershing his first view of the river Rhine. His command 
came to be known as the "meadow-larks," because he 
always kept his men in a light-hearted frame of mind. He 
tells us that all through the Argonne campaign, "No 
man's land ceased to exist. It became Yank-land." He 



152 WHET-STONES 

also informs us that, in every forward movement, each 
soldier was instructed to maintain contact with the 
man on his immediate right and left. Such instruction 
was ground into the men through soul-harrowing ex- 
perience. Whenever any man found his contact broken, 
he halted and investigated before advancing further. 

If human history teaches anything, it is the fact that 
there is a growing and passionate desire of man to rub 
elbows with his fellow-man, to maintain contact and to 
co-operate with others for their mutual advantage. This 
rubbing of elbows, this personal contact, this co-opera- 
tion is the great and enduring corner-stone in the founda- 
tion of our fraternal beneficiary societies. Everywhere — 
in city, town, village or country — this massive corner- 
stone is ever visible, ever the basis of action. In the 
case of unemployment, it means the stretching forth of 
helpful and helping hands. In case of sickness, it means 
visitation, flowers, performance of chores, harvesting of 
crops, feeding and care of live stock, wood-cutting, house- 
raising, tender nursing, hospital service, financial or other 
form of needed assistance. In case of death, it means 
the deceased will be laid to rest by friendly, loving 
hands; it means the bereaved will be comforted and con- 
soled by sympathetic hearts; it means that the lost sup- 
port of the widow and the orphan will be replaced in 
so far as is humanly possible. Service is the warp and 
woof of our societies. Service is the watch-word of the 
present age. Service is the crying need of the world. 

On January 1, 1895, fifty-four old line companies had 
$5,551,979,632 of insurance in force. This amount in- 
cludes industrial and all other forms of insurance. There 
were other companies not included in the Spectator 
Co.'s Insurance Year Book. These other companies had 
approximately $1,500,000,000 of insurance in force. The 



WHET-STONES 153 

total amount of old line insurance was in the neighbor- 
hood of seven billions. Forty fraternal societies, affili- 
ated with the National Fraternal Congress, had $2,855,- 
018,610 of insurance in force on January 1, 1895. Other 
societies had approximately $700,000,000 in force. The 
total fraternal insurance in force at that time was about 
$3,500,000,000. This was half as much as the old line com- 
panies had. 

On January 1, 1920, one hundred and forty-one old 
line companies had $35,242,253,928 of insurance in force. 
About 95 companies were not included in the aggregate 
statement of the Spectator Co.'s Insurance Year Book. 
They had about $1,400,000,000 in force. The total old line 
insurance then in force was almost thirty-seven billions. 
In 25 years' time the old line companies multiplied their 
seven billions over five times. On January 1, 1920, 
Statistics of Fraternal Societies show that 203 societies 
had $10,601,938,151 of insurance in force. In 25 years 
the societies multiplied their 2>y 2 billions about three 
times. 

Evidently the fraternal societies have fallen behind in 
the race for business during the last generation. Why? 
There is only one answer i. e. readjustment. This 
highly necessary step has broken the contact along the 
lines of our formerly aggressive memberships. Manag- 
ing officials, salesmen, local lodge officers and persistent 
members have had to stop in their tracks for the purpose 
of restoring these broken contacts. This reconstruction 
of our broken lines has taken much time, has required 
prodigious labor, has entailed great expense and has 
temporarily checked our growth. But the days of re- 
adjustment are virtually past. The period of reconstruc- 
tion is almost ended. Our societies have restored the 
touching of elbows. The spirit of co-operation has been 



154 WHET-STONES 

revived. Contact has been re-established. Strengthened 
by the renewed application of these fundamental human 
forces, which the old line companies have long coveted 
but which they have never had and which, in the nature 
of things, they never can have, the fraternal societies 
are now fully prepared to wage battle for the life in- 
surance business of America. 

Fraternal societies, with their representative form of 
government, are the institutions of the people. They 
furnish the kind of of life insurance that the people 
want and in the way they want it. The next 25 years 
should witness a growth of these societies unparalleled 
by any movement in all history. Fraternalism can take 
America by storm. The movement can be made, it should 
be made, an overwhelming Fraternal Crusade. The fra- 
ternalists of America have the mental fiber, the moral 
fiber and the heart fiber to accomplish this hitherto un- 
heard of achievement. By 1975 there will be $500,000,000,- 
000 of life insurance in force in North America alone. 
The business will be here to be had. Somebody will get 
it. Will it be our societies? Yes, emphatically yes; pro- 
vided we lay stupendous plans, make stupendous prepara- 
tion and perform stupendous work. Let us then be up 
and doing. 

ON WITH THE 
FRATERNAL CRUSADE! 

FORWARD MARCH! 



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